The Carolina Hurricanes have assigned top prospect Bradly Nadeau back to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Nadeau played six games and scored his first NHL goal on this recall. That was his only point, though, and he’ll now return to the minor-leagues after no scoring in his last three games.
Nadeau has carved out a reserved seat in Chicago’s top-six this season. He scored four points in three games before being recalled to Carolina. That mark ranked third on the team in scoring at the time, though he’s fallen to eighth in six games since his call-up. He’ll face the challenge of climbing back up Chicago’s scoreboard following this move, a task that should prove easy for the former first-round pick. Nadeau scored 58 points in 64 games of his rookie AHL season last year, the most of any Wolves rookie since 2007. He carved out a top-line spot next to Ryan Suzuki and Justin Robidas, one that stuck around through the first two weekends of this season. He’ll return to that spot when Chicago takes on rivalry matchups versus the Iowa Wild and Grand Rapids Griffins this weekend.
Nadeau was also a hot scorer in junior hockey. He scored 45 goals and 113 points with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees in the 2022-23 season, the most of any draft eligible prospect in the BCHL since Beau Bennett (120 points) in 2009-10 and Kyle Turris (121 points) in 2006-07. That scoring earned Nadeau the 30th-overall selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. He followed that up with 19 goals and 46 points in 37 games at the University of Maine, again a milestone mark – the most from a teenager in the Maine roster since Steve Kariya (50 points) in 1996-97 and Paul Kariya (100 points) in 1992-93. Nadeau has found impressive scoring at every step from juniors to the AHL, and while his impact away from the game will need to continue improving, his breakthrough in the NHL seems on its way.