On April 8, he was named the 2023 "Sharks Prospect of the Year" presented by Kaiser Permanente.
Cardwell, 20, recorded 90 points (43 goals, 47 assists) in 62 regular season games with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) to enjoy a decorated final chapter of his junior career. He led all Colts skaters in goals and shots (258) this season and ranked second on the team in both assists and points and was third in plus-minus (23). He co-led the OHL with three overtime goals and ranked seventh among league skaters in goals.
The forward began the season red hot, with points in each of his first 17 appearances (12 goals, 18 assists) of the year from Oct. 14 to Dec. 3, 2022. By the OHL's definition of a point streak, those 17 games would stand as tied for the third-longest point streak in the OHL this season and included eight separate multi-point contests. He ended the regular season as strong as he started, with a 13-game point streak (15 goals, 10 assists) from Feb. 23 to March 24. With a pair of points (one goal, one assist) in his final OHL regular season game on March 24, he reached 200 career OHL points.
Cardwell is currently amid an OHL playoff run with Barrie, having recently advanced to the second round with a 4-2 series win against Hamilton, where he had a standout four-point (three goals, one assist) performance on April 10, scoring a series-winning goal with 9.9 seconds remaining in regulation to mark his first career playoff hat trick. He posted seven points (six goals, one assist) in five appearances in the first-round matchup, two of which were game-winning goals.
