Top of the Draft: Introducing Carson Carels

After kicking off our draft preview earlier this week with a look at the defenseman who to seems to the top-ranked blue-liner on most draft boards, we follow that with a look at another defenseman who\'s up fairly high in any rankings of players in the 2026 NHL Draft class.

Carson Carels is a 6-foot-2, 194-pound, left-shot defender who\'s known for his strong, two-way game, and physical presence. In a draft class loaded with high-end defensive prospects, Carels is universally seen as one of the best, typically ranking anywhere from first to fourth on most pre-draft defensive rankings.

Summary

Carels is just 17 years old (he turns 18 a few days before the draft), and spent the past two seasons in the WHL, playing for the Prince George Cougars. Carels was initially considered more of a defense-first prospect but, by focusing on building up his game from the defensive zone out, it\'s allowed both his offense -- and his role -- to flourish. This season, he put up 73 points (23 G, 50 A) in 58 games for the Cougars, skated upwards of 28 minutes a night, and served as both their PP1 quarterback and primary penalty killer.

Carels finished third in points-per-game among all WHL defensemen, was one of just six blue liners to hit the 20-goal mark in the regular season, cracked the WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team, and was named a finalist for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy for WHL Defenseman of the Year.

Carels has represented Canada a few times internationally in recent years. He helped Team Canada Red capture a silver medal at the 2024 World U17 Hockey Challenge, picking up four assists in four games, and later suited up for Canada at the 2025 U-18 World Juniors, recording one goal in seven games while winning gold. Carels also competed at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, adding an assist as a part of the bronze medal team.

Most recently, Carels was also a member of Team Canada’s 2026 World Juniors defensive core, joining fellow draftees Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff. Carels, along with Verhoeff, became one of just 12 under-18 defensemen to have ever played for Canada in that tournament. Carels had a bit of an underwhelming time there, amassing just a single assist (the same amount as Reid, btw) while appearing in five of Canada\'s seven games.

Carels is typically lauded for his strong work ethic, as he grew up on his family\'s farm in Cypress River, Manitoba, which he describes as a “small town of 50 people in the middle of nowhere.\" In the offseason, he spends his days tending to the farm\'s herd of 1,000 cows and cutting hay. One of Carels\' favorite responses whenever he\'s asked about his upbringing is that the only two things he\'s ever thought about in his life are farming and hockey.

Strengths

If I had to distill Carels\' game down to a single word, it would be explosive. Explosive in his aggression. Explosive in the way he defends. And explosive in his activation from defense to offense.

Here is Carson Carels lighting up attackers.

I am cutting games for his EP Film Room and sorted these out. Very physical. #2026NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/IppcXwlhnx

— Daniel Gee (@DanielGScouting) May 8, 2026

The thing I love most about that clip, besides watching him light up opposing attackers, is that he\'s not just chasing hits, but using his physicality intelligently within the flow of the game to separate the player from the puck -- which not only tends to blow up the play entirely, but also results in the transition of possession more often than not.

Carels is a dynamic skater with great stride length that he uses to generate speed so he can join the rush, accelerate through the neutral zone, and weave through opposing defenders:

Please enjoy this Carson Carels highlight compilation 🤩 #NHLDraft

(🎥: @TheWHL ) https://t.co/z6Jwc6QuaD pic.twitter.com/c7ONClwdU6

— NHL (@NHL) May 4, 2026

Both iterations of Carels\' shot (wrist/slapper) are strong and accurate, and he\'s already shown a propensity for finding an open shooting lane, which not only makes him a consistent threat to score from the point, but also forecasts the possibility of running an NHL power play in the future:

The 6'2 LHD Carson Carels is a great skater, can accelerate in a split second, great wrist shot, he has high offensive IQ and good vision

He had 20G 53A 73P in 57GP in the WHL and has 5P in 6GP in the playoffs

Carels has the shot, hands, two-way ability, skating, averages 1.91… pic.twitter.com/LmzcT2Lcdg

— The Prospect Don (@TheProspectDon) April 13, 2026

🚨ATTENTION NHL CLUBS🚨

Carson Carels is a GAME BREAKER. @PGCougars | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/M6TUplcEjF

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 9, 2026

What separates Carels from any other defensive prospect in the Blackhawks\' system right now is his physicality. He\'s not just big, he\'s not just fast, and he\'s not just tough, it\'s that he\'s all three of those things together , while still growing into his offensive potential. The money quote comes from Carels\' player development coach, Bill Sullivan of Sullivan Hockey (who also works with players like Jack Hughes): “My favorite part of his game is that he’s mean. He’s not window-dressing-mean. He’s legit mean. He finishes his checks with bite, and he’s never standing next to somebody; he’s giving it to somebody.”

Just in case you needed a bit more proof of that ...

Carson Carels WhiskeyDrank/60 is off the charts #NYR pic.twitter.com/bSjILyV2vr

— NYR Louie ™️ (@NYRLouie) May 11, 2026

Best chirp Carson Carels heard this year was he was called a “Psychopath” on the ice 🤣

He is a two way defenseman with great offensive skill, really stout defensively and is really physical. He has it all to be a top pair dman https://t.co/clgj59BLvy pic.twitter.com/SJbpktSLFL

— The Prospect Don (@TheProspectDon) June 8, 2026

Weaknesses

As his offense exploded -- it more than doubled from 0.58 PPG in 2024-25 to 1.26 PPG this season -- Carels\' offensive decision-making could be off at times from simply trying to do too much. The offensive side of the ice still seemed a bit fast for him at times, and he made a lot of the kind of mistakes you\'d expect from a 17-year-old: overly ambitious stretch passes that turned into giveaways, stick handling into trouble, committing unforced turnovers and making bad pinches. Those should smooth out over time as he continues to work on his offense while honing his timing and instincts.

Right now, there isn\'t a ton of creativity to his offensive game -- Carels tends to make the obvious pass, or take the obvious shot, which isn\'t necessarily a bad thing -- but I don\'t know that he\'ll ever be considered a stand-out play driver from the back end. His long skating stride, which again is a huge strength, lends itself to him being more of a North/South defender than say a smaller, shiftier player with outstanding mobility, like a Quinn Hughes or Lane Hutson.

Carels sees the ice well and reads plays efficiently, but he also has a tendency to rely on his physicality to bail him out too much at times. That\'s all fine and dandy when you\'re blowing up some teenager named Braycen in the WHL but is a completely different story when you\'re trying to separate a grown man from the puck when he has 40 pounds and two inches on you.

Carels already profiles as a legit, top four-defender who will play significant minutes on both sides of the ice and, with a bit more offensive polish, he could be a really special player. He\'s committed to North Dakota next season, where it sounds like he\'ll be paired up with fellow 2026 draftee Keaton Verhoeff to form the most interesting defensive duo in all of college hockey.

Quotes

The NHL comparison most commonly attached to Carels is Jake Sanderson, primarily because both are smooth-skating, minutes-eating left-shot defensemen whose value comes from impacting the game in all three zones rather than relying on pure offensive production. Drew Ostmoen from The Win Column sees a ton of Sanderson in Carels\' game as well:

\"One comparable I really like for Carels is Ottawa Senators defenceman, Jake Sanderson. Similar to Carels, Sanderson has amazing edgework and an impact at both ends of the ice. He stays composed through the transition, either defending well by eliminating space or allowing himself to be an offensive option. Sanderson also has great vision and passing skills, often supplying his teammates with quality chances.\"

Carels will also tell you the same thing himself, often saying he specifically models his game after Sanderson (as well as another defensive standout in Miro Heiskanen):

Carson Carels models his game after Jake Sanderson & Miro Heiskanen

Carels is a 6’2 two way defenseman with strong mobility & sound overall game. He is a great skater, efficient and able to recover quickly. He has the ability to be a minutes muncher in the NHL for a long time… pic.twitter.com/kH45ozInCY

— The Prospect Don (@TheProspectDon) March 27, 2026

Stephen Ellis from The Daily Faceoff likes the Heiskanen comp for Carels even better:

\"Heiskanen is the best comparable, in my opinion. Carels is a mobile defender who makes smart decisions with the puck and plays a boatload of minutes in all situations. Carels was relied on heavily in Prince George, and he’ll be tasked with heavy minutes once he gets to the NHL, too. I like how Carels handles playing under pressure, and I think he’s extremely reliable defensively, just like Heiskanen.\"

And TSN\'s Craig Button took it even further, tossing out a significantly lofty comparison of his own:

“Carson Carels, the way he commands and controls the game, there’s no way anybody’s ever going to be Nick Lidstrom, but the manner in which he plays, in every single regard, the big minutes, the hard minutes, the offensive and defensive play and the timely play, he’s got all those elements.\"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m90C8G9G0wo

Talking Points