The Sabres drafted Nadeau in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Draft
The Buffalo Sabres are considered one of the best deepest prospect pools in the NHL, not only because of their selecting high in recent drafts but also due to their eye for talent and their organizational choices of either leaving players to develop in their home countries or bringing them to North America. Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club’s top 40 prospects. All are 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres, or are on AHL or NHL deals and have played less than 40 NHL games.
20. OLIVIER NADEAU (JACKSONVILLE – ECHL / ROCHESTER – AHL)
Nadeau was the Sabres fourth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft and one of 11 selections that Buffalo had, including top overall pick Owen Power and first-rounder Isak Rosen. The winger won a Memorial Cup with the Shawinigan Cataractes in 2022 and had an injury-shortened season with Gatineau before turning pro last season.
Playing mostly with ECHL Jacksonville, the 6’2”, 204 lb. winger scored 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists) in 41 games for the Icemen, and scored a goal in five games with AHL Rochester
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A potential power forward candidate down the line, the Hockey Prospect Black Book said in his draft year that Nadeau “brings a unique set of skills to the ice. He is exceptionally good around the net and has great value on the power play….He’s also very unselfish on the ice. He does a lot of the dirty work for his line: battling, recovering pucks in the corners, and he doesn’t mind taking the punishment in front of the net.”
The 22-year-old scored two assists in four games with the Amerks this season, but really has taken a step offensively with more playing time in the ECHL, with 10 goals in 16 games with the Icemen.
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This has happened, like not just once or twice, this has happened like six or seven times this year where they get up to nothing and they need that third goal to feel safe. Sometimes even the third goal or the fourth goal because they blew a 4-0 lead. They were pressing Seattle, Seattle was on the ropes, Joey DeCord made some good saves, but they started making careless plays in the second period. Seattle gets a goal like with about four or five minutes left to go in the second period and then all of a sudden you just felt, you just felt the pressure. And then Seattle ties up the game late in the second period and everybody knows, here we go. Like as soon as the tying goal happened, I said, here we go, because we've seen it so many times before. They had a power play at the beginning of the third period, nothing, and then Seattle scores three goals in the span of, two goals in 38 seconds. One was put off one of the Sabres, it was a fluky goal that went in off the defenseman. But then Kako scores two goals and immediately the fire Kevin Adams chance happened. Terry Pagula was in the building because the Bills are playing today against Denver. So it's like, you know, it just keeps happening.