Introduction
Cole Bardreau (born July 22, 1993) is an American professional ice hockey forward who currently plays under contract for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia Flyers on March 12, 2015.
Playing career
While playing for the United States National Team Development Program, Bardreau committed to Cornell University.
In his sophomore season, Bardreau was lent to Team USA to compete at the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Two weeks after returning from winning gold, Bardreau suffered a cervical fracture in his neck while playing at Cornell that caused him to miss the 2012–13 season and the NHL draft. Bardreau spent three months post-surgery in a neck brace with limited activity allowed before slowly being allowed to return to skating six months later. The following season, Bardreau was forced to miss some games to recover from back-to-back MCL tears but was still able to rank fourth on the team with goals.
In his last season at Cornell, Bardreau eclipsed more than 20 points for the first time in his NCAA career. He was named a NCAA (ECAC) Third All-Star Team and NCAA All-Ivy League First Team and awarded the NCAA (ECAC) Best Defensive Forward.
On March 12, 2015, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Flyers and played the rest of the 2014–15 season with their American Hockey League affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The 2015–16 season was Bardreau's first full season in the AHL. Bardreau was forced to miss most of October and November due to an arm and knee injury. Bardreau was named CCM/AHL Rookie of the Month for the month of January after he scored 12 points in 11 games played in January.
– Scott Gordon on Bardreau.
After his sophomore season, Bardreau was forced to miss the Philadelphia Flyers training camp due to abdominal surgery.
On July 15, 2017, Bardreau signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Flyers. However, Bardreau broke his hand in a preseason game against the New York Islanders and started the season on injured reserve. He returned to the lineup on October 25 and recorded five points in six games.
On July 2, 2019, Bardreau signed as a free agent to a two-year, two-way contract with the New York Islanders.
International play
Bardreau was named an alternate captain for Team USA at the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Bardreau scored three points in seven games to help lead the team to a gold medal.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2011–12 | Cornell University | ECAC | 34 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2012–13 | Cornell University | ECAC | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Cornell University | ECAC | 26 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Cornell University | ECAC | 30 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 54 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 72 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 85 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2017–18 | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 45 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 59 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 34 | ||
| 2018–19 | Lehigh Valley Phantoms | AHL | 40 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| AHL totals | 226 | 41 | 57 | 98 | 238 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 38 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | United States | WJC | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Junior int'l totals | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||