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.