Nurmi made the jump to North America in 2024-25 and found his footing with the powerhouse London Knights, registering 31 points in 58 games for the OHL and Memorial Cup champions. It was a breakout campaign, especially given his limited role as he ranked just 10th on the team in total ice time and saw little to no power play deployment. After a quiet 2023-24 season with just two points in Liiga, this turnaround is encouraging. The upcoming season will be pivotal as he aims to build on this momentum and take the next step in his development.

Nurmi is finally healthy and returning to play. He participated in this past World Junior Summer Showcase with Finland. He finished the tournament with the most points, producing two goals and four assists in four games. The 19-year-old winger will join the Islanders training camp in September before reporting to the London Knights in the OHL for the 2024-25 season. Nurmi will look to prove that his injury has not slowed down his development and to show that he can be a NHL forward in the future.

Nurmi was selected 113rd overall by the Islanders.

Nurmi’s past season with KooKoo at the U20 level has been solid, leading his team in scoring with 50 points in 41 games. He put up a decent amount of goals with 21, only two behind first place on his squad.

A creative offensive player with decent playmaking, Nurmi has seen a lot of growth in his game, in areas that come as a surprise given how physically frail he is. His forechecking is probably his biggest strength now, as he relentlessly pursues defenders and makes getting out of their zone a mess. His physique gets in the way a lot, as he bounces off shoulder shrugs and fails to stick to his opponents, but his energy partly makes up for it. He boasts a decent but not overly impressive release as well, though he projects more as a playmaker at the next level. Overall, Nurmi could become a very interesting bottom-six checking winger with enough time to add weight on his frame.