Carson Carels hopes breakthrough season leads to Canadian team at NHL draft

Carson Carels plans to watch June’s NHL draft from his family farm in tiny Cypress River, Man. instead of travelling to Buffalo to be there in person.

“It’s something we thought about during the whole season,” the Prince George Cougars defenceman said. “You can only bring so many people to the draft ... We have a big family of five kids and obviously my parents so I think just staying at home on the farm and seeing all the relatives and having all the people that kind of got me where I am today is special.”

Growing up on the farm, which is about two hours southwest of Winnipeg, played a significant role in turning Carels into one of the most promising players in this year’s draft class.

“Just working with cows all the time you kind of gotta have a little chip on your shoulder,” the 17-year-old said with a smile. “Sometimes they’re a little crazy so you gotta be a little more crazy than them to make sure they don’t run you over. That and just the hard work that you have to do on the farm, it’s kind of made me who I am as a person and player. I owe a lot to the farm and obviously my parents and siblings.”

The hard work is about to pay off for the 6-foot-2, 198-pound Carels, who is up to No. 2 in the latest rankings from TSN director of scouting Craig Button.

Carels has been surging up draft lists all season. He finished with 20 goals and 73 points in 58 Western Hockey League games, which was up from six goals and 35 points in 60 games last season. He also cracked Canada’s roster at the World Juniors becoming one of the youngest defencemen to ever play for the country at the event.

During a conversation with TSN, Carels reflected on his breakthrough season, detailed what life on the farm is like and explained why he’s hoping to be drafted by a Canadian team. The following is an edited transcript of the interview.

TSN: What’s life been like for you since the season ended with a second-round loss in Prince George on April 19?

Carson Carels: It’s been pretty peaceful. I’ve been back home on the farm and helping dad and helping with everything because it’s kind of the craziest time of the year with calving and everything. But, other than that, it’s just been just resetting and regrouping after a long season.

TSN: What’s a day on the farm look like at this time of year?

Carson Carels: Well, right now we’re having about five to 10 calves born a day so you got to tag all those calves and make sure everyone’s fed and make sure nobody needs help calving or anything. And right now we’re doing a little bit of fieldwork so the other day I was in the tractor for about 12 hours. It’s pretty long but it’s pretty good. All the goats, they kidded already, and we got a lot of little kids jumping around so it’s pretty cool to see.

TSN: What is your favourite part of life on the farm?

Carson Carels: How peaceful it is. We don’t really have many neighbours in the area. It’s not like a city where you step outside your door and you see everybody. I think just hearing all the sounds and breathing in that fresh air is the main thing that I love the most.

TSN: What’s your craziest cow story?

Carson Carels: I don’t know if I could say it because (smile) it’s pretty dangerous. Sometimes when cows have calves and you gotta tag them you kind of gotta run away with her calf to get away from them because they beeline at you. It’s pretty scary, but it’s worth it when you get the calf all healthy and everything.

TSN: You had the entire Cougars team out to the farm during the season. What was that like?

Carson Carels: Really special. It was a pretty nice day even though there’s snow on the ground. All the guys that are from the city, even the guys from Russia and Ukraine, they just really enjoyed seeing all the calves and cows and the goats. They loved the goats. It was pretty cool. Even for the staff it was a little eye-opening. Some of them don’t really get away from the city much so they kind of appreciated it and seeing what I do in the summer. Obviously, it’s a lot different so I think they had a lot of fun.

TSN: What will draft night look like?

Carson Carels: A lot of close relatives are gonna be there. All the staff from Prince George, the coaches and trainers and everybody that I’ve spent lots of time with, they’re gonna be there. I think a lot of my teammates from this past year are gonna try and drive up and stay over and have a little week with me. And then obviously buddies that I’ve been close with from where I’m from are gonna be there. If it’s a nice day, we’ll do it outside but if it’s not, well, we have enough room in the house to do a little something in here. But I think it’s gonna be special wherever that is and whenever that is.

TSN: You were the last player on the ice after the season ended in Prince George. What were you thinking?

Carson Carels: There’s a lot of emotions going into that. Just seeing all the fans and just embracing that, how special it is up in Prince George and how great of an environment it is and all the culture we have there with the fan base and everything. Just the emotion of seeing it for the last time that season was really hard. Obviously there’s a few decisions to be made this summer and see where I’ll end up for next year so I think I just kind of had to embrace that moment and hope it’s not my last, but I think that there’s a chance it might be. It’s kind of hard to take that all in, but I think I enjoyed it a lot.

TSN: How do you feel about your season now that it’s done?

Carson Carels: Going into the season, personally, I didn’t really think that I was gonna hit these achievements or do things that I did like make the World Juniors. I came into the season just with an open mind of having goals of obviously point totals and where our team’s gonna finish and all that, but I think the extra things that I was able to accomplish just boosted this year a whole lot. I’m really proud of myself for how it went. And in Prince George, we had a great group of guys and I’m really proud of how that ended as well and just how tight we were. I mean a lot of guys didn’t expect us to be that good, so it was obviously awesome to achieve.

TSN: What was your goal for a point total coming into the season?

Carson Carels: I just wanted to be 50 points or above. Before the season that was a goal that I was reaching for. But then, obviously, when we started picking it up a little bit I think I had to push it up a little and, yeah, I hit it, so it was good. It wasn’t really too much about the points. Even if I hit just 50 I was happy. Just how it all ended up I owe a lot to all the guys that I was playing with like [Terik] Parascak and [Brock] Souch and all those guys, they really helped. Obviously with our power play, it was a pretty good one, so I owe a lot to that too.

TSN: Where do you feel like you grew the most or improved the most this year?

Carson Carels: Coming into the season, I think a lot of people thought I was more of a stay-at-home defenceman and didn’t do too much in the O-zone. But, I mean, it was a learning year my 16-year-old year and just learning to put myself in good ice and all that. I came in with a different mindset this year. I wanted to be the top guy on the back end and help the team succeed as much as I could. Just that confidence and swagger of ‘We need to do this and get it done’ kind of helped my offensive game. I mean, back in u15 I was more of an offensive guy so I had to bring that back out and it showed this year.

TSN: What did you take away from the World Juniors?

Carson Carels: That World Junior experience helped the back half of my year. Just learning from all those guys that have played NHL games or have been drafted, I mean, obviously I owe a lot to them. Just sitting down with the Hunter brothers [coach Dale and manager Mark], they really talked a lot to me and let me watch the games and embrace it all. The main thing was just the confidence that I brought back to Prince George.

TSN: What’s the biggest thing you learned from someone at the World Juniors?

Carson Carels: How creative you can be. Just watching [Zayne] Parekh, he’s so special and what he did at the end of the year in Calgary was surreal. Once I went back to Prince George, it kind of opened my eyes. You can make some mistakes sometimes and obviously it’s gonna happen but, I mean, the amount of things that you can try and the confidence that it builds, it helps your game completely.

TSN: Did you have a Parekh-type moment this season on the ice down the stretch?

Carson Carels: Just that last goal of the playoffs. I don’t really know how I got up there in the middle of the ice, but it kind of happened. It’s just the confidence of putting yourself in an area like that and, even if it doesn’t work, you gotta keep doing it. It worked and obviously it’s a big thing.

TSN: The hockey world certainly is noticing. Button had you No. 2 on his latest list. What do you think about that?

Carson Carels: I don’t really pay too much attention. Obviously people send it to you and it pops up on your Instagram or whatever and you kind of take a look at it and you smile or whatever. But it’s a post or list that you look at for a minute and you just are proud of yourself for a second, but then you gotta keep going and stay humble about it and stay in reality.

TSN: There’s going to be a number of Canadian teams picking high this year including Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and maybe Toronto. What do you think about potentially playing in Canada?

Carson Carels: Something every Canadian kid dreams of is playing for a Canadian team. It’s closer to becoming a reality now just with all those teams being in the top of the range. A lot of people have asked me what team or who I would want to go to, I think any Canadian team is definitely at the top of the list. You want to bring Canadian hockey back and bring a Stanley Cup back to your country. So, I think any Canadian team would be awesome.

TSN: How prepared are you for the extra attention you get in a Canadian market?

Carson Carels: Obviously there’s a lot of spotlight just being in Canada and you kind of hear a lot of things about Toronto and places like that. You just gotta stay humble and stay to your roots and that’s what I’m about. Not a lot of things get to me. You’re always in contact with your parents about the farm and it kind of just keeps you grounded. So that’s something I do and will continue doing if there was a little spotlight.

TSN: What would it be like to be picked by the Jets? Carson Carels: It’d be really special. I mean, I don’t think that feeling of playing for the Jets would ever go away, because obviously you’re playing for your hometown. There would be a lot of people that know you and familiar faces everywhere so I think it’d be really special. I wouldn’t have to go too far away so I’d be able to go back to the farm once a while as well.

TSN: Did you cheer for the Jets growing up?

Carson Carels: My dad was a big Jets guy, but my brother was a Caps fan so I kind of followed my brother’s footsteps and turned into a Caps fan.

TSN: Why was your brother a Caps fan?

Carson Carels: He was a big Alex Ovechkin fan. He loved Ovi and wore his number and everything so it kind of just drew me to him as well.

TSN: Who was your favorite player?

Carson Carels: When I was younger, it was usually Erik Karlsson. Now, it’s Jake Sanderson. I think any of those guys that can play two-way games and drive their back end is kind of who I like watching and just model my game after.