Carels balances stock, farm chores ahead of 2026 NHL Draft

The 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft will be held June 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The first round will be June 26 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS) and rounds 2-7 on June 27 (11 a.m. ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN). NHL.com is counting down to the draft with in-depth profiles on top prospects, podcasts and other features. Today, a look at defenseman Carson Carels from Prince George in the Western Hockey League. NHL.com's full draft coverage can be found here.

Carson Carels had a pretty busy start to June for several reasons.

He spent a week in Buffalo at the NHL Scouting Combine, and then got to watch Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

But when he went home, it was time for some real work, and it had little to do with skates, sticks and pucks.

Being No. 3 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters doesn't exempt him from chores on the family farm.

"We're actually mid-calving season right now, so there's about 10-15 calves every day on the ground," Carels said. "It's been a lot of work, but it's been a lot of fun just being back and helping Dad and smiling about it."

The Carels family farm in Cypress River, Manitoba, is a beef ranch with about 500 head of cattle, so there's a lot of work to be done, especially at this time of year.

"I've helped a few calvings this year, but I think they've all been really smooth," Carels said. "All the feeding of the cows and everything's pretty hard work as well, and that's kind of what we've been doing.

"Then, on the side as well right now, I have about 50 goats that have about 70 babies on the ground, so it's been a lot of fun. Those little things jumping around are pretty cute too. So, makes it enjoyable."

NHL teams might find it just as enjoyable adding a player with Carels' skill set at the draft. 

The left-handed shot, who turns 18 on June 23, was fourth among Western Hockey League defensemen with 73 points (20 goals, 53 assists) in 58 games for Prince George. He also played for Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he had one assist and averaged 10:12 of ice time in five games.

"Coming into this season ... I knew he was a good player, but I didn't think he would put up the points he did," Central Scouting senior western scout John Williams said. "He's big, he's physical, he's got offense. He just does everything really, really well.

"He compares himself a bit to (Ottawa Senators defenseman) Jake Sanderson, maybe a Charlie McAvoy (of the Boston Bruins), sort of in the (Los Angeles Kings defenseman) Drew Doughty (mold). Those kind of guys who can play big minutes in all situations, can run power plays, but can defend and bring a physical element in all of those. That's a pretty good group of attributes to have."

It was a big step up offensively for Carels, who had 35 points (six goals, 29 assists) in 60 games last season. Being more comfortable with the pace of play in his second full WHL season certainly helped. 

"I grew a lot as a player last year as a 16-year-old, just learning how to defend and take care of my own ice and put myself in good areas," Carels said. "I kind of just brought that into this year, and then obviously added that extra offense as well."

Carels was an offensive-minded player when Prince George selected him with the No. 16 pick of the 2023 WHL draft, and as a 15-year-old in 2023-24, he had 50 points (18 goals, 32 assists) in 27 games with Pilot Mound Academy's under-17 team to lead all defensemen in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.

Last season was more focused on improving his defensive game, which might have caused some NHL scouts to overlook his offensive skills.

"He's a two-way player with a lot of ability on the offensive side, and he's got just as much ability in the defensive side and shutting guys down, which is impressive," Prince George coach/general manager Mark Lamb said. "When we scouted him, his team, he was by far their best player and he was a defenseman. He was their leading scorer and he was up the ice all the time, but he was also their best defensive player. So he really had to work both ends of his ice at a very young age."

The hard work also carried into the classroom, where Carels graduated high school a year early at age 16. It made for some busy summers, but the plus side was having as much time as he wanted to develop on and off the ice.

"The rink's open almost 24/7 in Prince George," he said. "You can stay there as long as you want. And I think that's just been such a huge thing for my development, as I didn't really have to worry about going back and doing math or English or anything like that."

Carels will head back into the classroom in the fall when he plays next season at the University of North Dakota.

He'll get to challenge himself against bigger, stronger opponents, and he'll also be closer to home. Cypress River is less than a four hour drive from Grand Forks, North Dakota, rather than being nearly 1,200 miles away in Prince George, British Columbia.

"When I went down there to visit, it didn't really feel real that I could play this close to home and kind of come home whenever, and all that," Carels said.

Once he gets done with his farm chores and focuses on hockey during the offseason, Carels said his goal is to continue getting stronger and faster, and he'll be training with a group in Winnipeg that includes fellow defensemen Denton Mateychuk (Columbus Blue Jackets), Owen Pickering (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Carson Lambos (Minnesota Wild).

Then it'll be off to college, and eventually the NHL.

"He's an unbelievable player and he's getting better all the time," Lamb said. "His coachability and how he thinks the game. ... He's a two-way player with a lot of ability on the offensive side, and he's got just as much ability in the defensive side and shutting guys down, which is impressive."