Following the Carolina Hurricanes’ 5-4 shootout win over the Colorado Avalanche, the team needed to figure out what to do with its roster. During the game, both William Carrier and Eric Robinson left the game due to injuries. The roster has depleted throughout the State Fair road trip, and now they need to bring some reinforcements from the Chicago Wolves. On Friday evening (Oct. 24), the first call was made. It’s now officially Bradly Nadeau time in Raleighwood.
Nadeau in the Hurricanes’ Top 6
After a sensational first professional season with the Wolves in 2024-25, scoring 32 goals and 58 points in 64 games, Nadeau was giving the sense that it won’t be long until he makes the jump to the NHL. Well, after three games into the 2025-26 season, where he has scored two goals and four points, that time has come. One of his two goals came on Sunday, Oct. 19, against the Rockford IceHogs, where he scored the signature lacrosse goal. After a stellar rookie showcase, training camp, and preseason, Nadeau has more than earned his call-up to the Hurricanes so early into the season. While it comes after some unfortunate circumstances, it’s now time for the 20-year-old Canadian forward to show why he belongs in the NHL.
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Nadeau is one of three Wolves players who have been called up since the start of the road trip, alongside Joel Nystrom and Charles Alexis Legault. It’s a next man up mentality for the Hurricanes with a few Wolves players on the roster, who look to make the most of their chances. Nadeau is no exception, and he should be given a full chance to show his worth. Where should that be? In the top six. While there could be some line shuffling, it makes sense to place Nadeau on the second line in some capacity with Jackson Blake on his opposite side. Despite not playing much together outside of one-off games late in the season, these two have some chemistry as prospects with the Hurricanes, and it should be used to the team’s advantage.
Bradly Nadeau, Chicago Wolves (Ross Bonander / Texas Stars)
Furthermore, it does not make sense to call up the 2023 30th overall pick and play him less than 10 or 11 minutes a night on the fourth line. Nadeau has an elite-level NHL shot and showed in the preseason that he has what it takes to be in the NHL right now. If they give him second-line ice time, it will give him more of a chance to prove why he should not be reassigned back to the Wolves. If anything, they will get a bigger sample size out of the St-François-de-Madawaska, NB native who lit it up in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) and with Maine in the NCAA. After every big jump, Nadeau has proven that he can stick.
He is one of a handful of teenagers to score over 30 goals in a rookie season with the Wolves in 2024-25. Furthermore, when someone can put up a 19-goal, 64-point season in his lone year with Maine in the NCAA (37 games), that gives a good indication of where his trajectory is going.
Related: Hurricanes’ Bradly Nadeau Eyeing the Opportunity to Make the NHL Jump
Could they slot him in the top nine at least? It’s a good possibility. However, his best chance to thrive and showcase his skillset will be in the top six, where they need a boost. Outside of Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho, it would not hurt to add more young and skilled talent to a group that has Logan Stankoven and Blake on it already. Could there be a learning curve? Of course, it’s the NHL. Nadeau has shown time and time again that he can adapt. Also, when a team has a leadership core of Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin, and Aho, you feel pretty good that he will be taken care of. It also helps that Nadeau has Wolves teammates in Legaut and Nystrom already there, along with younger players like Blake, Stankoven and Jarvis.
Either way, this is Nadeau’s chance to show that he can hang within the NHL, and the Hurricanes should give him all the opportunities to do so. Putting him in the top six gives him the best chance to showcase himself and help the Hurricanes finish the road trip in Dallas on Saturday, Oct. 25, and hopefully when the team returns home on Tuesday, Oct. 28, against the Vegas Golden Knights. Regardless of how it goes down, Nadeau has earned this opportunity and is poised to make the most of it.
