Two Nadeaus for the price of one? Hurricanes’ top draft pick’s brother forges own path
Sitting in the stands in Nashville for the 2023 NHL Draft, Josh Nadeau watched as his little brother, Bradly, was chosen 30th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Josh never heard his name.
But that hasn’t changed his determination to make it as a professional hockey player.
Josh received one of two development camp invites with the Hurricanes this year — Maxim Namestnikov is the other. Josh Nadeau and Namestnikov have blended in seamlessly during the first two days of development camp, and have the final 3-on-3 tournament Thursday afternoon to make one more impression before heading home.
“I think they compete with the desire to win,” said John Nadeau, the father of Josh, 19, and Bradly, 18. “They can’t lose. If they lose, they’re getting so frustrated. So they need to win, I think that puts them to the next level.”
Josh has a very similar career path to Bradly, both coming from St-François-de-Madawaska, New Brunswick, and playing in back-to-back British Columbia Hockey League championships with the Penticton Vees. Bradly won the BCHL playoff MVP award this past year; Josh won that same award in 2022, finishing the season with 40 goals and 32 assists in the regular season (12 goals and 12 assists in the playoffs).
Like his brother, Josh grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan. He didn’t know too much about the Carolina Hurricanes, but said he’s become a quick learner to understand what the organization is about.
“I didn’t really know too much,” he said. “But it’s fun getting to know it here so far.”
He called himself a playmaker, often lining up passes that Bradly finishes with goals. It always made sense for Vees’ head coach Fred Harbinson to put the two Nadeaus on the same line, and it worked for those two seasons.
“Probably more than their skill was that (their chemistry) was so evident,” Harbinson said. “It was evident in their first year, but even moreso the second year. When sometimes players come back you see you would think that maybe they would take certain things for granted, and it was the farthest thing from these two.”
Josh is undersized for a forward, at 5-feet-8 and 158 pounds, and he’s always been small for a hockey player, according to John. At 19 years old, Josh is the smallest player listed on the University of Maine’s roster for the 2023-24 season.
He committed to the Black Bears in 2020, with Bradly following suit, completing a cross-country journey to play hockey. Starting at home, just a 10-minute drive to the U.S. border, all the way to the opposite side of Canada, and now returning to the East Coast just three hours from home.
“You never have to ask him to do extra,” Maine’s head coach Ben Barr said. “You never have to, they’re just fantastic, fantastic humans.”
His goal of playing professional hockey hasn’t been the most straightforward journey, having remained undrafted going into his freshman season. Josh still has a possibility of signing as an undrafted free agent contract with any organization — including Carolina.
John said that for both his sons to play professional hockey, there has to be some luck and determination on top of high-skill level. But he feels confident in Josh’s ability to continue proving coaches, fans and managers wrong, just as much as Bradly has started to.
“Josh is no different,” Barr said. “Josh is a little bit smaller than Brad, but Josh would have been a very high draft pick as well.”
So while his steps toward a professional contract haven’t been the most traditional, Josh hasn’t given up on his goals. He’s willing to keep getting better, proving everyone wrong and having fun all at the same time.
“He’s done the work,” his father said. “Even when he didn’t get drafted he said, ‘I’ll prove everybody wrong.’ He’s done that since he was 6 years old. … Since he was young, it was like that. So for Josh it’s not an issue.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2023 at 6:00 AM.