Jackson Blake began Carolina Hurricanes training camp a year ago dressing in the cramped visitors locker room at the Lenovo Center, packed in with all the other young guys and prospects.
Near Blake sat Bradly Nadeau, another forward, another young hopeful.
Blake went on to spend the season in the Canes’ big room, in a corner seat once occupied by veteran forward Teuvo Teravainen. After a solid rookie season, Blake signed an eight-year contract extension with the Hurricanes worth $45 million.
“It’s crazy how much a year can change your life, right?” Blake said Thursday as preseason camp began for the 2025-26 season. “If you had told me I would have signed an eight-year, long-term deal with this team last year this time, I probably would have looked at you like you had four heads.
“I’m very grateful to get this opportunity and super jacked up to be here for the next nine years, knock on wood.”
Nadeau, 20, spent the 2024-25 season with the Chicago Wolves, the Canes’ American Hockey League affiliate. Carolina’s first-round pick in 2023, the former University of Maine standout scored 32 goals, leading the team and all AHL rookies, played for Canada in the 2025 World Junior Championship, and got in a couple of late regular-season games for the Hurricanes.
Now, it’s a new season, a new camp, a new situation.
“A lot has changed,” Nadeau said Friday after training camp practice at Invisalign Arena. “I feel like this year the game is slowing down a little bit for me and I’m more confident out there. I’m ready for camp to get going full tilt.”
Blake came to camp last September with the understanding his first pro season might — might — be spent with the Wolves in the AHL. There were no guarantees for the fourth-round draft pick who had starred in college hockey at North Dakota, even with his hockey pedigree as the son of former NHL forward Jason Blake.
He was 21 years old, but looked younger. He’s 5 feet 11 and might be — might be — 178 pounds, as he’s now listed.
“There definitely were some questions I had,” Blake said. “I had the confidence in myself that I could come to camp and make a good impression. Whether that was good enough to make the team or not …
“Fortunately, they gave me the opportunity to play on the team and gave me the opportunity to stay on the team, too, which I feel I took advantage of.
“Now we’re here, right?”
For Blake, “here” means having the experience of 80 regular-season and 15 Stanley Cup playoff games. It means scoring 17 goals in his rookie season, of playing up and down the lineup for Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour. And, of course, it means having the rich contract extension that begins with the 2026-27 season.
So what now?
Blake has a plan.
“My mindset is a little different,” he said, “I don’t want to just make the team. I want to be a better version of myself from last year and take another step.
“Obviously last year was more of a learning year. The first 40 games were a learning curve for me, and I think that’s what Rod and the coaching staff and everybody wanted to do with me, right? See what I could do?
“This year I want to take that next step, whether it’s offensively, which is a big one for me, and keep focusing on my two-way game. That’s a big part of how this team has success. If I’m doing that and it’s providing offense, I think I can help this team win.”
Nadeau’s mindset is to follow Blake’s lead. He’s aware the Canes, unless some personnel changes are made before the season, have all their forward slots filled, but that’s part of the challenge.
“Obviously it’s hard,” said Nadeau, who is listed at 5-11 and 172 pounds. “You can be really good but you have to fight for a spot. This year I know what to expect. I want to make a good impression, obviously have fun and do all the small details just right.
“There’s no frustration. You wait for your chance and when the chance comes, take it.”
That’s what Blake did a year ago.
“With Jackson, we were in the same spot last year,” Nadeau said, “I think for myself, I had an OK camp and I could have been better. Now, obviously he’s signed an extension and he’s doing great for himself.
“You never know what can happen. You just have to work hard and hopefully things will go your way.”