Projected early NHL draft pick Carson Carels leaving WHL for NCAA

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Add Carson Carels to the list of top talents leaving the WHL for the NCAA ranks, with the projected early pick in June’s NHL draft jumping from the Prince George Cougars to the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

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The 17-year-old defenceman from Cypress River, Man., announced his decision on his Instagram on Monday. He has as many as three more years of junior eligibility.

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Vancouver Giants defenceman Ryan Lin, 18, who’s pegged to be a first rounder in June as well, announced last month that he was going to play for the Denver Pioneers next season.

The NCAA changed its scholarship rules last summer to open things up for players in major junior leagues like the WHL. The WHL lost 15 players this season with multiple years of remaining eligibility, most notably projected early 2026 NHL draft picks Gavin McKenna and Keaton Verhoeff, a defenceman who’s set to be a Carels’ teammate at North Dakota.

TSN’s Craig Button had Carels as the No. 2 prospect for the draft in his March rankings, trailing only McKenna, a winger who played this season with the Penn State Nittany Lions. In his mock draft in May, Button had Carels going No. 6 overall to the Calgary Flames.

Elite Prospects slotted Carels at No. 4 in its latest rankings, while the Sportsnet duo of Jason Bukala and Sam Cosentino both pegged him at No. 7 in their most recent polls.

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The Vancouver Canucks have the No. 3 overall selection in the draft. Former general manager Patrik Allvin came to watch Carels and the Cougars face the Giants at the Langley Events Centre in January.

“Thank you to everyone who’s made a significant impact on my career thus far. My family, friends, coaches, teammates, and the whole Prince George organization and community, thank you for shaping me in to the person I am today and making the past three years the best years of my life,” Carels wrote on his Instagram.

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There are rumours in hockey circles of more WHLers taking this same path. That includes Everett Silvertips defenceman Landon DuPont, who’s the early favourite to be the No. 1 choice in the 2027 NHL draft. He turns 17 later this month.

Other WHLers of note in this year’s draft include Prince Albert Raiders defenceman Daxon Rudolph, Giants winger Mathis Preston and twins Markus and Liam Ruck, who are forwards with the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Centre Caleb Malhotra of the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs is another projected early pick in June and he’s set to play next season for the Boston University Terriers. He’s the son of the Abbotsford Canucks coach Manny Malhotra, and there have been various reports that the Canucks could take him with that No. 3 selection.

Leagues like the WHL have long promoted that their NHL-like schedule — McKenna played 35 games with Penn State this season after being part of a Medicine Hat team last season that played 90 games as part of making advancing to the Memorial Cup national championship — is the best preparation for prospects. There does seem to be a mindset change for some in the game, though, with the idea that the shorter season in college offers up and comers more time in the weight room to become NHL ready.

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Consider the comments from Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere after Porter Martone, 19, signed on with the team in March after his season with the Michigan State Spartans. Martone, who was the No. 6 pick in the 2025 draft, left the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads for Michigan State last summer.

He had four goals and 10 points in nine regular season games with Philadelphia and then two goals and five points in 10 playoff encounters.

“That was the biggest reason for encouraging the move to the NCAA this season: To have a stepping-stone from the OHL to the NHL, developing his body, getting stronger,” Martone told reporters in March. “I think the amount of time he spent in the gym, you can see in his body how it’s changed. It’s almost going from a teenager to a man and his play on the ice spoke for itself.

“Playing against men in the NCAA, there’s a lot of strong players that are much older than the 16- or 17-year-olds in the CHL, so It was a good stepping-stone for him.”

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Players who sign NHL entry-level deals aren’t eligible to play in the NCAA. Canucks top prospect Braeden Cootes inked his deal 12 days after Vancouver picked him at No. 15 last summer. The centre, who split the majority of this season between the Prince Albert Raiders and Seattle Thunderbirds, told Postmedia last September that he had talked to a few schools but realized that the NCAA route wasn’t a fit for him, and that “obviously, Vancouver wanting to sign me made it even an easier decision.”

Teams could easily copy what the Flyers did with Martone, of course.

Carels was the youngest player on this year’s Canadian world junior team, four days junior to Verhoeff, a former Victoria Royals standout.

The 6-foot-2, 189-pound Carels finished with 20 goals and 73 points in 58 regular season games with the Cougars. He wound up fourth in rearguard scoring in the WHL. The Cougars (44-22-2-0) had the WHL’s sixth-best regular season record and they lost to the Penticton Vees in the second round of the playoffs.

“He’s getting so much attention, and it’s all earned,” Prince George general manager/coach Mark Lamb said of Carels in January. “I tell the same story all the time … you throw me a category and he’s a 10. His skating, his playmaking, his physicality, his understanding of his position as a young D-man. The leadership he has and the will to win he has … he’s got everything.

“All these high-end players, it’s all weighted toward offence. But he also really understands playing away from the puck, which I think is just such a credit to him. At such a young age, it’s so hard to do.

“When I talk to NHL people, I tell them, ‘If you can get him, get him. You’re not going to go wrong. It’s not going to be a bad pick.’”

SEwen@postmedia.com

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