While Nadeau didn’t show the same offensive capabilities as some of the other defensemen at this camp, I thought he was able to make up for it with some really strong rush and n-zone defending habits. He was using impressive footwork in the defensive zone to stick with opposing attackers along the perimeter in his own zone, rarely overcommitting to one side or the other to allow spin-offs into space and using his stick to poke pucks loose and regain possession to initiate a breakout. He kept his head on a swivel while defending the front of the net as well, allowing him to be cognizant of his surroundings and get sticks into passing lanes to disrupt any dangerous cross-ice attempts. I thought he was one of the better defenders at stepping up at the defensive blueline to deny entries, either forcing dump-ins or removing player from puck with his stick or his body.

Nadeau’s value came from just how effective he was in his defensive details throughout the entirety of this contest. He kept his head on a swivel while defending in his own zone, which allowed him to keep tabs on opposing forwards in the slot and use his stick to break up some cross-ice pass attempts toward dangerous areas. I thought he was also getting pucks up the ice quickly on both retrievals and regroups, scanning prior to his touches so he could assess his options and make a smart play. He made a great play in the 3v3 overtime period when he made a sliding stop on a two on one situation that lead to his team scoring on the counterattack.