Backyard rink to British Columbia and back: How the Canes’ top draft pick arrived in Raleigh

Hanging from hallway walls leading to the Penticton Vees’ locker room are multiple photos of former Vees skaters who have gone on to play college and professional hockey, a guide of sorts to remind the current players to strive to make their alumni proud.

It’s only a matter of time before former Vees forward Bradly Nadeau’s image is among them.

Nadeau gave up his backyard, homemade hockey rink, his friends and neighbors to pack up and move to Penticton, British Columbia — 3,000 miles away from his hometown of St. Francois-de-Madawaska, New Brunswick, a small town just across the border from Maine. Nadeau and his older brother, Josh, joined the Vees for two seasons together in the BCHL.

Two years later, Nadeau is heading back east, fresh off one of the more exciting nights of his life.

The 18-year-old, already committed to play next season with the University of Maine, was the Carolina Hurricanes’ first-round pick, 30th overall, in the 2023 NHL Draft — the highest pick out of the BCHL since former Victoria Grizzlies forward Alex Newhook was selected No. 16 by the Colorado Avalanche in 2019.

And another milestone for Nadeau: He’ll make his Carolina debut this week during the team’s annual development camp.

“Hopefully going there and help them win one day, I think it’s something really special,” Nadeau said during media availability in Nashville. “Hopefully I’ll be able to help them and make a huge impact and help them win.”

A small-town kid

Nadeau started skating at 4 years old. His dad, John, loved hockey, and his kids fell for the sport by watching Montreal Canadiens games. It was the only NHL team they could regularly watch, so by nature, the Canadiens were the team to which Nadeau gravitated.

He lived in a village of 500 people. Everybody knew everyone. His family lived on a farm. There were barely enough kids in the area to gather a full youth hockey team, his dad recalled, maybe eight or nine total. But Bradly and his brother wanted to play, so John did the one thing he knew he could do to keep his kids on the ice.

He built a backyard hockey rink.

John said there were times Bradly would skate until it was nearly pitch black outside, and he’d refuse to get off the ice. That penchant followed him to junior hockey, when Vees head coach Fred Harbinson would see Bradly on the ice after practices and games, refusing to get off the ice until whatever he was working on was perfect.

“I always joked he would make a competition out of anything,” Harbinson said. “If it was walking across the street, he’d want to be the first one. You saw it in practice every day. He would have competition with the goaltender to see how many times you’d score in a practice.”

St. Francois-de-Madawaska, as small of a town as it is, gave Bradly a safety net for support. The town made it easy for his family to live a fairly electronic-free lifestyle. There was the farm, the hockey rink, and themselves. He learned to thrive in that environment.

The people in the Nadeau’s town speak mostly French, but New Brunswick is a bilingual province. So, too, is the Nadeau family.

The brothers practiced on their 100-foot rink just about every day, John said, bringing friends over and playing against each other. The brothers were both undersized for their ages, but John said that never affected their desire to keep getting better.

“It’s one of the best feelings, when you can prove everybody wrong,” John said. “When you’ve got a dream and the work ethic there, everything’s possible.”

Off to junior hockey

Bradly and Josh played in various youth leagues in New Brunswick, but heading into the 2021-22 hockey season, it was time for them to start preparing for junior hockey. There are a few routes North American-born hockey players typically take — tryout for the USHL, the CHL, or the BCHL. All three leagues all have produced successful professional players, so the choice of which league is dependent on what they wanted to do.

Bradly got a call from Harbinson. So did Josh.

“They were the first team to call the boys,” John said. “That’s why we went there. And there were probably three, four teams that called, but we went to the first one.”

It was a “no-brainer” to pack up and move, their dad said, even though it was so far away. But the brothers were together, and that was enough for the two to give the Vees a shot.

Once in Penticton, Bradly was rather shy at first, Harbinson recalled. He still impressed everyone, especially when playing with his brother on the ice, but wasn’t nearly the outgoing personality Vees fans saw in year two.

Harbinson said it made sense to put the Nadeau brothers on the same line, and that they even had that “twin-telepathy” despite being two years apart.

“Here in British Columbia, everybody remembers the Sedin twins clearly and how they could find each other on the ice,” Harbinson said. “Nobody else could sense a play would be made, and all of a sudden they would make one. And that’s what these two kids would do all the time.”

But while the brothers did so much together, they both stood out on their own. Bradly developed a powerful, commanding shot that he delivered with improving accuracy at Penticton.

In their first season, the brothers helped bring home a BCHL championship and 20 goals and 26 assists during the regular season. Bradly followed it up with 11 goals and 13 assists in the playoffs.

The two seasons in Penticton impressed college and NHL scouts, but there was something that stood out about Bradly — he’s a left winger with a right-handed shot. Not many skaters are comfortable on their off-wing, but it helps his ability to maneuver with the puck on his backhand. And, it gives him more room to get his shot off faster.

“That’s what makes him durable,” University of Maine head coach Ben Barr said, “because he could play both sides. I imagine, he enjoys being on his offside because he can one-time a puck, he can shoot a puck at any angle, which is why he’s got so many goals and why he’s so dangerous for us and hopefully for many years after that.”

In their second seasons in Penticton, the brothers became fan favorites, and Bradly amplified his performance. The Vees won a second straight championship for the first time since 1985 and 1986. Along with his 45 regular-season goals, 68 assists and 17 goals and 18 assists in the playoffs, Bradly was named the 2023 playoff MVP, the Brett Hull Award winner as the league’s top scorer, and the BCHL’s MVP award.

After the Vees

As Bradly’s draft stock rose at Penticton, he made the choice to once again follow his brother and play Division I hockey at Maine. Josh had committed to the Black Bears in 2020, to former head coach Red Gendron. Bradly went with Josh to tour the campus, which is just three hours away from their hometown. That one visit was enough to convince them both to play for Maine.

Gendron died unexpectedly in April 2021, and Barr took over the program that fall. It didn’t change the Nadeaus’ decision to stick with Maine.

“Really, I think it speaks a lot to their culture and to the kind of character that they have,” Barr said. “They don’t owe us anything, but hey, they’re coming here because it’s gonna be special for them.”

The Nadeaus’ father, Harbinson, and Barr all agreed that Bradly’s ceiling hasn’t yet been discovered.

Because of the Hurricanes’ desire to add youthful offensive players, he has a strong chance of making an impact with Carolina.

Continuing his upward trajectory while staying healthy is key, John said, because in the NCAA, the skill level increases with every step. Bradly’s work ethic and humble attitude have shined through to this point.

“(John’s) taught them (that) one of the biggest things is when your career is over, you want to be remembered for a lot of different things,” Harbinson said. “But, I think one of the more special things to be remembered as is a great teammate, and, I think those two, both will be remembered as great teammates.”

In Nashville, Bradly and his family waited to hear his name. Harbinson, Barr, friends and neighbors all anxiously watched as the first round of the draft went by.

“You don’t know who’s going to choose you and (as) his advisor told him, it’s like Christmas,” John said. “You know he’s gonna get a gift, but you don’t know what.”

Finally, from the Canes at No. 30: “Bradly Nadeau.”

He was swept away for photos, news conferences and social media posts in a Carolina jersey before reuniting with his family. The years of watching a wide-eyed young skater on his backyard, homemade rink, the 3,000 mile move, the interviews, the travel fees — it was all worth it, John said.

John won’t be in Raleigh to watch Bradly take the ice as a Hurricane for the first time, but the stories he’ll hear at the end of the week are what he’s looking forward to most.