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May 18—GRAND FORKS — One of the best hockey prospects in the world has committed to UND.
Defenseman Carson Carels, a potential top-five pick in next month's NHL Draft, signed a grant-in-aid with UND, giving the Fighting Hawks a massive offseason edition to the 2026 freshman class.
Carels is a 6-foot-1, 175-pound defenseman who grew up on a farm near Cypress River, Man.
He is a rare blend of skating, offense and physicality.
Carels scored 20 goals and tallied 73 points in 58 regular-season games for the Prince George Cougars in the Western Hockey League.
He averaged 27:39 of ice time per game, most in the WHL — more than a minute-and-a-half ahead of second-place Radim Mrtka, last year's No. 9 overall NHL Draft pick.
Carels jumps into rushes with his skating, makes clean passes with good vision, hammers point shots and regularly levels opponents with big checks.
He was a finalist for the WHL's Defenseman of the Year honor.
"Carels is an impressively mature defenseman who has good two-way skills and excellent skating," FloHockey's Chris Peters said. "He's well-rounded, but took a big step offensively this year. I'm not convinced he's going to be an exceptional producer as he progresses, but I think he's going to play a lot of minutes, in all situations, one day at the NHL level and certainly sooner in college."
Carels was the youngest player selected to Canada's World Junior Championship team last winter. He's four days younger than Keaton Verhoeff, the UND freshman defenseman who is expected to be a lottery pick in next month's NHL Draft.
The highest-drafted players to ever suit up at UND are Jonathan Toews (No. 3, Chicago Blackhawks, 2006), Jake Sanderson (No. 5, Ottawa Senators, 2020) and Jason Herter (No. 8, Vancouver Canucks, 1989), John Marks (No. 9, Chicago Blackhawks, 1968), James Patrick (No. 9, New York Rangers, 1981), Brian Lee (No. 9, Ottawa, 2005) and Tyson Jost (No. 10, Colorado Avalanche, 2016).
UND has never had two top-15 picks in the same draft.
Carels is the latest major recruiting victory for head coach Dane Jackson and general manager Bryn Chyzyk.
There are four WHL superstar defensemen in the 2026 college hockey recruiting class — Carels, Ryan Lin (Denver commit), Daxon Rudolph and Landon DuPont, who has accelerated his education and will come to school a year early.
UND made Carels a priority.
His hometown and game style have made him a natural fit, and there's been plenty of speculation that UND would be his college destination.
But Carels focused on making a run with Prince George before visiting campus in early May.
The Cougars reached the second round of the WHL playoffs before falling to Penticton in six games.
Carels was the last Prince George player to leave the ice after Game 6. He raised his stick as he walked down the tunnel, acknowledging the fans. He later acknowledged that he knew that could be his last WHL game.
Carels could have joined Team Canada at the IIHF World Under-18 Tournament after Prince George was eliminated, but he opted to skip the event and return home to the farm. Carels played through an injury in the playoffs.
With the addition of Carels, UND has just two spots left to fill on its 2026-27 roster — a defenseman and a third-string goaltender.
UND's defensive corps is set up to be young, but talented.
Once Carels and Verhoeff are selected early on June 26, the Fighting Hawks will have three first-round picks on their back end.
E.J. Emery was selected No. 30 overall in the 2024 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers.
The others on the back end are junior Arizona State transfer Brasen Boser, sophomore Sam Laurila (New York Islanders fifth-rounder), draft-eligible freshman Ethan MacKenzie and freshman Garrett Lindberg of Moorhead.
There's one addition left on the back end. UND is likely to fill that spot with a freshman.
The Fighting Hawks went 29-10-1 last season, winning the Penrose Cup as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions and reaching the NCAA Frozen Four.
Continue reading...
Defenseman Carson Carels, a potential top-five pick in next month's NHL Draft, signed a grant-in-aid with UND, giving the Fighting Hawks a massive offseason edition to the 2026 freshman class.
Carels is a 6-foot-1, 175-pound defenseman who grew up on a farm near Cypress River, Man.
He is a rare blend of skating, offense and physicality.
Carels scored 20 goals and tallied 73 points in 58 regular-season games for the Prince George Cougars in the Western Hockey League.
He averaged 27:39 of ice time per game, most in the WHL — more than a minute-and-a-half ahead of second-place Radim Mrtka, last year's No. 9 overall NHL Draft pick.
Carels jumps into rushes with his skating, makes clean passes with good vision, hammers point shots and regularly levels opponents with big checks.
He was a finalist for the WHL's Defenseman of the Year honor.
"Carels is an impressively mature defenseman who has good two-way skills and excellent skating," FloHockey's Chris Peters said. "He's well-rounded, but took a big step offensively this year. I'm not convinced he's going to be an exceptional producer as he progresses, but I think he's going to play a lot of minutes, in all situations, one day at the NHL level and certainly sooner in college."
Carels was the youngest player selected to Canada's World Junior Championship team last winter. He's four days younger than Keaton Verhoeff, the UND freshman defenseman who is expected to be a lottery pick in next month's NHL Draft.
The highest-drafted players to ever suit up at UND are Jonathan Toews (No. 3, Chicago Blackhawks, 2006), Jake Sanderson (No. 5, Ottawa Senators, 2020) and Jason Herter (No. 8, Vancouver Canucks, 1989), John Marks (No. 9, Chicago Blackhawks, 1968), James Patrick (No. 9, New York Rangers, 1981), Brian Lee (No. 9, Ottawa, 2005) and Tyson Jost (No. 10, Colorado Avalanche, 2016).
UND has never had two top-15 picks in the same draft.
Carels is the latest major recruiting victory for head coach Dane Jackson and general manager Bryn Chyzyk.
There are four WHL superstar defensemen in the 2026 college hockey recruiting class — Carels, Ryan Lin (Denver commit), Daxon Rudolph and Landon DuPont, who has accelerated his education and will come to school a year early.
UND made Carels a priority.
His hometown and game style have made him a natural fit, and there's been plenty of speculation that UND would be his college destination.
But Carels focused on making a run with Prince George before visiting campus in early May.
The Cougars reached the second round of the WHL playoffs before falling to Penticton in six games.
Carels was the last Prince George player to leave the ice after Game 6. He raised his stick as he walked down the tunnel, acknowledging the fans. He later acknowledged that he knew that could be his last WHL game.
Carels could have joined Team Canada at the IIHF World Under-18 Tournament after Prince George was eliminated, but he opted to skip the event and return home to the farm. Carels played through an injury in the playoffs.
With the addition of Carels, UND has just two spots left to fill on its 2026-27 roster — a defenseman and a third-string goaltender.
UND's defensive corps is set up to be young, but talented.
Once Carels and Verhoeff are selected early on June 26, the Fighting Hawks will have three first-round picks on their back end.
E.J. Emery was selected No. 30 overall in the 2024 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers.
The others on the back end are junior Arizona State transfer Brasen Boser, sophomore Sam Laurila (New York Islanders fifth-rounder), draft-eligible freshman Ethan MacKenzie and freshman Garrett Lindberg of Moorhead.
There's one addition left on the back end. UND is likely to fill that spot with a freshman.
The Fighting Hawks went 29-10-1 last season, winning the Penrose Cup as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions and reaching the NCAA Frozen Four.
Continue reading...
