If you think William Whitelaw is hard to play against in hockey, you should try him in Sorry!
The board game tends to bring out the competitiveness in everyone, and it’s no different for Whitelaw.The Blue Jackets third-round pick in the 2023 draft hates to lose, whether it’s a puck battle in a hockey game or while playing a game at home.
When Whitelaw played junior hockey in Youngstown, winning a USHL Clark Cup championship with the Phantoms in 2022-23, his billet family enjoyed bringing the games out. Whether it was Sorry! or Connect Four, there were plenty of battles around the kitchen table.
“My billets in Youngstown were board game people,” Whitelaw said while at this week’s CBJ development camp. “You should ask them how it went. The billet mom gets after it. Playing like Sorry!, there’s Connect Four, and this game, like, you fling a little puck and you try to get it through the holes to the net. We did that all the time. It was good.”
So where does that competitiveness come from? Whitelaw might have to have it, as he’s listed at 5-foot-9, and players at that size generally have to possess a high battle level to make it at the highest levels of hockey. Part of it also likely comes from his family, as his father, Michael, is in the ultra-competitive restaurant business.
“He never really played hockey, but he’s competitive in the business world,” Whitelaw said. “We’ll go to different restaurants and he’ll look at different things and try to improve that in his restaurant and stuff like that. That’s something I try to do in hockey in a sense. I watch guys and see what they do and try to add that to my game, too.
“It came from my dad and my family. I’ve always been a competitive kid.”
Wherever it comes from, that drive is evident in all facets of Whitelaw's game. While he’s not the biggest player on the ice, he is often the most noticeable, using his skill and his motor to frustrate and annoy opponents.
He can score, too, as evidenced by his 36-goal final season with the Phantoms the year he was drafted by the Blue Jackets. Going back even further, he posted 46 goals and 110 points in 2021-22 at legendary prep school Shattuck St. Mary’s, finishing the year second on the team in scoring behind only No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini and ahead of 2024 first-rounder Cole Eiserman.
Add it all up and the Blue Jackets have a prospect who might just skill and will his way to NHL stardom. He just turned in a solid performance at the team’s development camp, constantly scoring goals and having the confidence to attempt a Michigan lacrosse-style goal during drills.
“He’s got all the tools,” CBJ director of player development Rick Nash said. “He’s got a good motor. He’s strong. He’s got great edges. He’s a great skater. He can stick handle. And he does play with a little bite. If he gets knocked off the puck or takes a hit, he wants to get back at you in a clean way.
“It’s gonna be a big year for William going to Michigan. I’m excited to see how he does and where his game develops after this year.”
As Nash mentioned, there’s also a bit of a change on the horizon for the Rosemount, Minn., native. After his freshman season at Wisconsin, where Whitelaw posted 10 goals and 17 points in 37 games, he entered the transfer portal and became just the latest Blue Jackets prospect to decide to attend the University of Michigan.
While Whitelaw was a major contributor for the resurgent Badgers – all 10 goals he scored this past season were at 5-on-5 – one gets the sense he was looking for an expanded role at the college level. The wing thinks he can find it under head coach Brandon Naurato at Michigan, traditionally one of the top offensive teams in college hockey.
Before the transfer, Whitelaw was hosted on a visit to U-M by first-round pick Rutger McGroarty and also chatted with fellow CBJ draftee Gavin Brindley about what it was like to play there, and he sees how he can produce like those fellow NHL draft picks. His dev camp roommate Brindley is an instructive case in particular, as the CBJ second-rounder was one of the top scorers in college hockey a season ago and plays a similar game.
“I took my time and talked with a lot of people, and I just sat down with Naurato and I like what they have going on there,” Whitelaw said. “He showed me what they do there and how they develop guys. He showed me an example like Brinds, how he came from the USHL and how he transformed his game. It’s pretty impressive what he can do with his players.”
Whitelaw said the hardest part about leaving Wisconsin was leaving his teammates and best friends behind, even if they said they won’t take it easy on him when the teams meet in Big Ten play next season.
“I was talking to the guys and they said, ‘Just know we’re running you through the wall next year,’” Whitelaw said with a laugh. “But we’ll still be best friends.”
In the end, though, he had to look out for his future, and he thinks Michigan is a place he can excel. The goal is to keep putting up big numbers and then transition into being an NHLer with the Blue Jackets, and one gets the sense next season could be really fun.
“Michigan really fits the way I play,” Whitelaw said. “I scored 10 5-on-5 goals this year, but I’d like to score more on the power play and have more of a chance there. I think I will at Michigan. I think my numbers should go up and I’ll be a better hockey player going in, too.”
