Carolina's 2023 first-round pick has all the features to be the perfect Hurricane.
The Carolina Hurricanes picked Penticton Vees winger Bradly Nadeau in the first-round of the 2023 draft with the 30th overall pick and with that selection, they got a player that perfectly fits their mold.
There are three key components that make up any good Canes player: high skill level, high compete level, and upstanding character.
Let's break down how Nadeau checks all the boxes.
Skill
It's no secret that the 5-foot-10 winger has elite talent.
His shooting and skating are some of the best in his draft class and he pairs all that with a tireless motor. He's able to play up tempo and keep the game moving at a high speed.
But don't just take my word for it. Here's what various coaches and Hurricanes staff members have said about Nadeau:
“Probably the best way to describe him is that he just scores goals," said Hurricanes AGM Darren Yorke following the 2023 draft. "It’s pretty remarkable the types of goals he was able to score this year. Catch and shoot, scoring from distance, backhand, forehand and on top of that, he’s incredibly hard to play against. So you have this blend of competitiveness, you have this blend of this high-end offensive player that fits in exactly with what we want from our players.”
“Bradly Nadeau is a very good skater and he’s got an elite shot," said development coach Peter Harrold at prospect development camp. "He’s a goal scorer. He just has a very good skill set in that sense."
“He’s got an elite shot," Penticton Vees general manager and head coach Fred Harbinson told The Hockey News. "A good hockey brain. He can break goaltenders down with his shot and he plays with an engine. He doesn’t slow the game down. He can play at a high pace and he gets that shot off quick and it’s very accurate.”
“My shooting is something that I’m pretty good at," Nadeau said. "I take advantage of that. I like to shoot the puck a lot in games and I also see the ice."
Nadeau has a full offensive tool bag and can play either winger and can contribute on both side of the puck in the offensive zone, whether it's the role of a goal scorer or a playmaker.
“I played right wing my whole life until I got to juniors and then I played two years as a left winger," Nadeau said. "So I think I’m comfortable on both wings. Obviously there’s some positives and negatives for both, but I’m comfortable playing both wings and that’s something that’s good for my bag of tools playing hockey.”
Compete
The second key part of any Hurricanes player is a willingness to work hard and compete.
When you're on a team led by Rod 'The Bod' Brind'Amour, a 52-year old man who is probably more in shape than you ever will be, you have to give it your all.
And Nadeau fits perfectly into that workhorse mentality.
“Every game, you try to play your best," Nadeau said. "You have a standard you want to play to and some games it doesn’t happen but most of the time it did. Just by working hard, it’s going to help you accomplish that standard.”
"Everybody has talent when you start moving up the ladder, but he just honestly… people talk about how committed they are and some people think they work the hardest, but honestly, this guy... he lives it, he breathes it, he sleeps it," Harbinson said. "He never wants to take a moment off."
“If you just watch this player, he brings it every night," Don Waddell told ESPN on draft night. "He’s got a tremendous work ethic and great skill."
When I talked with Harbinson on the phone during the draft, he told me a story about Nadeau's commitment to his growth.
"The one area he knew he had to definitely grow in coming into his second year was getting physically stronger and he really attacked that summer," Harbinson said. "When he came back, right away in his first fitness testing, he blew all his fitness tests out the water from the previous year. You could just see that he was determined from day one to really attack this season and that’s exactly what he did. For me, he made my life really easy, because when your best player is the hardest worker, everybody else sort of falls into place."
Character
The last key for the Hurricanes is character.
When Brind'Amour became the head coach, the biggest thing he instilled in the Hurricanes more than anything else was a transformative culture.
A culture of winning, of working hard, but most importantly, a culture of character.
Being a Carolina Hurricane comes with higher expectations than just performing on the ice. It's also about representing the crest within the community.
"We want to have good players, but, more so, we want to have good people and he certainly checked all the boxes," Waddell said.
"We do the same thing at Penticton," Harbinson said. "We always say that we’re not recruiting players, we’re recruiting families in most cases. We had both brothers on the team and the parents have been outstanding. We’re in a day and age where a lot of parents get really involved. These parents really instilled the right attitudes in their boys.
"Bradly was always about team first. He knew he had certain personal goals that he had to achieve, but he was a great teammate first and foremost and that’s why even in a season like this where you get all these accolades, his teammates loves him. I think that’s something that when your career is over, you want to be remembered as a great teammate and he’s definitely that. I think Don nailed it. This is a great fit. He’s never going to put himself first, that's for sure.”
