Parents of young men in their late teens and early 20s will tell you it can be tough to get them out of bed before noon in the summer. Brandon Wheat Kings forward Nicholas Johnson, however, has been bucking that trend and then some.
The alarm has been going off at 6:00 AM almost every day for Johnson, who then packs up his work gear and heads to work construction with his dad. Between that and his skates and workouts, Johnson is confident he’s coming to Wheat Kings camp in great shape.
“If I need certain hours taken off for hockey, it’s nice to have that flexibility,” Johnson said with a chuckle. “It’s been a long summer but it’s been a good summer in that case as well. Right now I’m really looking forward to getting back to Brandon and showing off what I’ve done this summer.”
The summer has had other milestones for Johnson and other reasons for confidence. He was being recruited by NCAA schools and eventually made the decision to go to Ferris State for the 2026-27 season.
“They had been talking to me pretty heavily and it’s a brand new coaching staff there,” Johnson said. “They’re all young, and their track record for me, at least, has been really great. Most of all, when I was talking to them, they were good people, really down to earth, which I liked. They said they want to rebuild that program and become a championship team and I want to win games and be a part of something new, build on something.”
Like most WHLers, Johnson hadn’t really thought too much about the NCAA before their ruling allowed CHL players to join their ranks and then, quite suddenly, he had an almost overwhelming amount of information to learn. He had to make a decision between going to the NCAA before his WHL eligibility was up, as so many of his peers have done, or coming back for another year with the Wheat Kings. He chose one more year in Brandon.
“I think I’m in a little bit of a different boat than some other guys,” said Johnson. “I kind of wanted to play a full season in an impact role. I’ve had some unfortunate accidents over the past couple of years and I believe in myself and want to see how well I can do in a full season. Brandon is a good spot and I know, regardless, we’re going to have a good team whether or not some changes were made. I still believe we can build a team to have a big year and win a lot of hockey games. I want to be a part of that.”
Johnson may have undersold his bad luck on the injury front. He was injured right as he was starting to hit his offensive stride in his first stint with the Wheat Kings in the early months of 2024. Then, in his second game of the 2024-25 season, just minutes after he’d completed a natural hat trick against the Regina Pats, he was on the receiving end of a dirty takedown that resulted in a leg injury. But the work he’d put in over the offseason was evident (he went from 26 points in 45 games to 43 points in 52 games) and he thinks he has another jump in production within his grasp.
“I’ve done very similar things to my offseason last year,” he said. “Going into camp last year I felt really good, so I thought I shouldn’t change too much. It’s been a bit of everything, I’m an active kid, even working construction every day and having to man up and go to the gym and do my ice times after work. For me, I think it’s built a lot of character.”
The Wheat Kings may need Johnson to have a similar leap forward to the one he took last summer. Only this past week, the team learned they would be without Roger McQueen, the man they thought would be their number one centre this season, as he will go to the NCAA early. The ice time and scoring role he vacates is an opportunity for players like Johnson, as it was last season when McQueen was injured.
“What I’ve been thinking about for this entire summer is how I can step in to a role and be an impact player and be the guy,” Johnson said. “It’s been a long journey for me in the Western League. Personally, I think I’m due for a couple of good bounces. It fuels me to be better. Waking up at 6:00 AM every day has helped me realize that all this work I’m going to put in is going to influence what I’m going to get out of it. I’m super excited to get started.”
And Johnson’s goals and expectations extend beyond himself. Despite the recent blow to their forward group, he still sees big things ahead for the Wheat Kings this season.
“I can truthfully say I have high expectations for our forward group,” he said. “Losing someone like Roger hurts a little bit, but the amount of depth we have in our team, in our forward group, I think we can always pick up the pieces. You look up and down our lineup, even last year, we had four full lines rolling every game. Once everyone was healthy, we were a great team up and down the lineup. I only have high expectations for everyone.”
Johnson added he’s been paying especially close attention to his leg strength this offseason, as he’s had some lower body injuries he wants to fully leave behind him.
