The Canadian | Joshua Nadeau wants to come back

It would be risky to get carried away following an intra-team match played in the middle of July, but we will still remember that on this Friday, July 5, Joshua Nadeau scored three goals.

It was hot here in Brossard, which is sometimes nicknamed the Stockholm of the South Shore, and this heat took hold of Nadeau’s stick, who surprised the public and also the Canadiens’ decision-makers with this rather spectacular performance.

“He stood out by scoring goals,” player development coach Francis Bouillon said of him. “Every year, there are guests at rookie camp in September, so this week was a great showcase for them to get noticed.”

September is still a long way off, and it would be risky to try to predict what will happen then. But in the meantime, this Nadeau, at 5 feet 7 and 166 pounds – according to the club’s official document – ​​was one of those who were able to get noticed during this Canadiens development camp, which ended Friday at noon at the club’s training center.

Who is he, exactly? One of the 15 players invited by the team to this camp, a 20-year-old forward who grew up in Saint-François-de-Madawaska. In fact, he speaks a French mixed with Acadian sounds that Lisa LeBlanc would not deny.

Bradly Nadeau, his brother, was drafted in the first round by the Carolina Hurricanes a year ago. Now Joshua Nadeau wants to be able to dream of the National League too.

He will report to the University of Maine Black Bears next season, where he and his brother were the club’s top two scorers last season. He believes he ended his first development camp with the Canadiens on a good note.

“We had a meeting with the team on Thursday, it went well, they are happy with my performance at camp and I am also very proud of what I did here this week, he added. They told me what I was going to have to work on.”

Optimism

There were some important prospects to discuss during this week in Brossard. Francis Bouillon noticed Michael Hage, among others, and also Florian Xhekaj, the other’s little brother, “who proved once again that he is progressing very well,” according to the former CH defender.

Bouillon took the opportunity to send a message of optimism to the invited players, like Joshua Nadeau.

“The message I gave them at the beginning was that I went through it too… In my time, there was no development camp. I did my junior as a guest player, I made the jump to the pros as a guest player too. These guys are here for a reason: because someone brought them here, because someone saw good things about them. Then, it’s up to them to stand out. We talked a lot about the players drafted at this development camp, but we also saw good things from the guest players.”

Joshua Nadeau, for his part, hopes that he has done some good things as well, at least enough to be able to get another invitation another time. In addition, it turns out that the Canadiens are the club of his childhood.

“There are other teams that have invited me to their development camp… but for me, the decision was very easy to make,” he added, with the air of someone who wants to come back.