Despite his younger brother Bradly signing with the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, University of Maine All-Hockey East third team freshman winger Josh Nadeau is returning to Orono next season, as are co-captains Lynden Breen and David Breazeale.
Breen is a center and Breazeale is a defenseman.
The Black Bears are coming off a memorable 2023-24 season in which they reached the Hockey East semifinals and the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011-12.
They went 23-12-2 which is the most wins since the 2005-06 team went 28-12-2.
They lost to Boston University in the Hockey East semifinals and Cornell in the first round of the NCAA Springfield Regional by identical 3-1 scores.
UMaine concluded the season ranked No. 10 in one national poll and No. 11 in the other.
“I received a few (pro) offers but I want to be here,” Josh Nadeau said during a Zoom interview on Wednesday. “I like it here. I need to build more confidence to go into next year and have an even better season. We have a really special group of guys here. It’s like a family. We all enjoy being around the rink every day. We work our butts off to get better.
“The way the season ended last year, we have a lot more to prove this year,” said Nadeau.
Breazeale echoed Nadeau’s sentiments.
“We’re excited about returning,” said Breazeale, who will be a senior next season and also received some pro offers. “This place is special to us. We made some amazing memories here. This past season was really special.
“We’re looking forward to what we have coming back for next year. We want to take it even farther than we did this season and contribute as much as we can,” Breazeale added. “My heart is here and I want to continue this journey and follow it through.”
Breen was not available for the interview.
Josh Nadeau was the team’s second-leading scorer behind his brother, who was a first round pick of Carolina (30th overall) last summer and received the opportunity to play in Carolina’s regular season finale at Columbus.
Josh Nadeau finished with 18 goals and 27 assists for 46 points in 37 games. He had one fewer goal than his brother, who was a second team All-Hockey East pick and an All-Rookie team pick.
Josh Nadeau was 17th in the country among players from 64 Division I programs in points per game (1.22). He was tied for ninth with five game-winning goals and tied for 14th with eight power play goals.
Josh Nadeau said he wants to work on his speed and strength in the offseason.
“I want to be able to hold on to pucks longer, stuff like that. And I’m not exactly where I want to be speed-wise,” he said.
Breazeale said he hopes to be more consistent in his decision-making with the puck.
“I want to make smart, headsy plays. That’s a big piece for me. I also want to work on my strides and my pivots. My explosive movement,” said Breazeale. “Those are important. I want to be consistent, defensively, and work on my offensive game. I am going to work on getting more pucks through from the blue line to give our forwards opportunities to put the puck in the net.”
UMaine has lost fourth-llne forwards Cole Hanson, Felix Trudeau, Reid Pabich and Parker Lindauer to the transfer portal along with third-string goalie Connor Androlewicz. Left wing Ben Poisson used up his eligibility and right wing Donavan Houle and back-up goalie Victor Ostman signed pro contracts instead of returning for a fifth year.
The entire defense corps will return and Breazeale was the only upperclassmen. All the other defensemen were either sophomores or freshmen.
UMaine has brought in four forwards from the transfer portal in Clarkson’s Charlie Russell, UMass Lowell’s Owen Fowler, UMass’ Taylor Makar and Colgate’s Ross Mitton, who was his team’s leading scorer this past season.
There will also be some incoming recruits and UMaine head coach Ben Barr said there could also be another player or two who will be added to the roster.
Barr, who will begin his fourth season behind the UMaine bench in the fall, said next year’s team will be “the deepest team we’ve ever had.
In addition to losing top scorer Bradly Nadeau, Houle was the team’s No. 5 scorer (9 goals, 15 assists) and Poisson was tied for eighth (6 & 9).
But Barr said, “I don’t know a reason we can’t have the same offensive output.”
His team averaged 3.22 goals per game which was 16th best in the country.
“For us, it will be a matter of will we have four lines, six or seven defensemen and two goalies who can play (at a high level),” said Barr. “It’s not about getting through a shift but thriving in a shift.
“If we can have that kind of depth in our program, that makes you very hard to beat by anybody,” said Barr.
He said Bradly Nadeau isn’t replaceable and the special chemistry between the brothers as linemates last season and during their days in the British Columbia Hockey League can’t be replicated.
But the Black Bears have seven of the 12 forwards back who played in the BU and Cornell playoff games and Barr pointed out that “we have some fantastic players coming in here between our freshmen and transfers. Players like Josh and Lynden (Breen) are cerebral players so you’ve got to find guys who can play that way as well. We will try many things like we did this year.”
The Nadeaus played on lines centered by Breen, Nolan Renwick and Harrison Scott this season and all three are returning.
Breen was the team’s third-leading scorer (9 goals, 21 assists) and Bentley University transfer Harrison Scott was fourth (15 goals, 12 assists).
Breazeale said having Josh Nadeau and Breen back is “huge for our forward group.”
He said he has a “ton of belief” that they will have the players who can make a national championship run next season.
“We know what we have in our room and what kind of culture we have,” said Breazeale. “We want to continue to build off what we did last year. We saw the potential for what we can do.
“We love who we have coming back and coming in. We believe it’s the right group to go out and compete for a national championship. That’s the goal,” said Breazeale.
