Virtually all avenues are open to the San Jose Sharks with the second overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, but as they told Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Despite the fact that General Manager Mike Grier can select virtually anyone with this draft pick, there are only a handful of players that truly stand out as qualified to be selected with the second overall pick.
Everyone is assuming that the Toronto Maple Leafs will select Gavin McKenna at number one overall. He’s the player most people have at first on their draft boards, or at the very least near the top. The Athletic compiled a consensus draft board that looked at the draft board from its top prospect guys, Scott Wheeler and Corey Pronman, as well as Chris Peters from FloHockey, TSN’s Craig Button and SportsNet’s Jason Bukala and McKenna was at the top.
We’ve looked at the consensus number two pick, forward Ivar Stenberg, in another post. We’ve also looked at the consensus number three pick, defenseman Chase Reid. We skipped over centers Caleb Malhotra and Viggo Björck, who are four and five, respectively, on the consensus board. They’re probably very good players, but if Grier goes with a forward, then there’s only one that he’s picking, and it’s Stenberg. The Sharks have plenty of forwards; the team is selecting the best player available at forward, and Stenberg has set himself pretty far apart from the rest of the field in that regard.
On defense, there’s a good crop of defensemen, so we’re digging a little deeper. We’ve explored Keaton Verhoeff, who is the consensus seventh overall on The Athletic’s board. He’s the second right-handed defenseman we’ve looked at because that’s the glaring need in the Sharks’ prospect pool. But the defense overall could use some help, so today, we’ll take a look at a left-handed defenseman, Carson Carels, who some think could jump up in the draft.
Carson Carels, D – Prince George Cougars (WHL)
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 198 pounds
Age/DOB: 17, June 23, 2008
Shoots: Left
Prince George Cougars (WHL): 58 games, 73 points (20 G, 53 A)
Canada U20 (WJC-20): 5 games, 1 point (0 G, 1 A)
Comparing Carels to Verhoeff is an interesting study in how two players can perform when they choose two different paths. While Verhoeff chose to go to the NCAA and play against college players, Carels chose to stay and play for the Prince George Cougars of the WHL. As a result, his offensive numbers were much flashier than Verhoeff’s. Carels had 73 points in 58 games for the Cougars and ten more points in ten playoff games.
The case against Carels
Let’s start out with the elephant in the room. The Sharks are in desperate, desperate need of right-shot defensemen. Carels is not that. He plays the wrong side, which may be the biggest knock against him when it comes to how he fits into the Sharks’ system.
Consistency is another flag for the 17-year-old, but that’s a flag for all of these kids at this age. They’re all still finding their games and so this is less of a concern at this juncture, especially considering that he’s not making an immediate jump to the NHL. Carels will head to the University of North Dakota where he will round out his game. He’s got time to develop before he’ll be asked to carry the heavy workload and responsibility of being a top-pairing defenseman in the NHL. He has time to become consistent.
Then there’s what he brings on the offensive side of the puck or lack thereof. Carels isn’t going to be the offensive producer that guys like Verhoeff or Reid are projected to be. He’s already producing at a slower pace than those guys so we expect the drop off to continue. Don’t expect him to be your Cale Makar or your Quinn Hughes.
FloHockey’s Chris Peters calls him more of a Charlie McAvoy type. McAvoy averages 50-60 points per season in a good season and has peaked at 12 goals. He’s not tearing up the scoreboard. But he’s a consistent plus-player, and he racks up those PIMs.
The case for Carels
It’s that defensive consistency that’s put Carels near the top of the draft board. He’s a smooth skater and has a strong hockey sense according to a lot of scouts. He can transition the puck out of the offensive zone, and he protects the puck well.
He will limit his mistakes which will help Sharks fans rest easy.
Then there’s his size. He measured in at 6’2″ and 198 pounds at the combine when he was just 17. In fact, he turned 18 today, which means he still has some developing to do. The kid has some muscle, which he developed working on his family’s farm (sound like another second overall draft pick the Sharks selected?). He’s considered a physical defenseman, something that might be a plus, depending on what we’re looking for.
What scouts say about Carels
TSN’s Button is the highest on Carels. He believes that the young defenseman is the best of all the defensemen in this draft class.
“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,” said Button in a recent article for the Prince George Cougars.
FloHockey’s Peters has Carels ranked fifth on his list.
“Perhaps the most complete defenseman of this class, Carels does a little bit of everything topped off with high-end skating and mobility,” writes Peters. “While he may not have the most skill of the available defensemen, he still produced 20 goals and 73 points in 58 games in the WHL this year. On top of that, he plays a physical brand of defense that makes him difficult to play against. Carels has a high level of hockey sense on top of it all.”
The Athletic’s Pronman has Carels ranked eighth on his list and considers the defenseman a middle of the lineup player, less than Reid, Verhoeff or Alberts Smits.
“Carels is a strong two-way defender. He’s a powerful, fluid skater who can get up the ice easily. He closes on checks well, using his feet and body to break up a lot of plays. He has an edge in his game and plays with a lot of physicality,” writes Pronman. “Carels has good hands and vision and can activate into plays. He doesn’t project as a PP1 type in the NHL, but he should generate offense. He could be a great top-four defenseman who will play significant NHL minutes.”
Conclusion
Carels doesn’t play on the side that the Sharks desperately need, and he’s not the offensive defenseman that the Sharks are on the prowl for; however, there are worse things than drafting what appears to be the “most complete defenseman” in the draft, as Peters puts it.
Like all of the other defensemen the Sharks are likely considering, Carels will be headed to the NCAA next season. As we said, he’s expected to play for the University of North Dakota alongside Verhoeff, where he’ll round out his game. So, he won’t immediately jump into the lineup. That said, some experts think he’s closer to making the jump than other defensemen in the draft.
The good news for fans is the Sharks have seen a lot of Carels’ game this season, so if you hear his name called, you can be certain that the team has done its homework. Because Carels played for the Prince George Cougars in the WHL he spent a lot of time in front of San Jose Sharks’ prospect Joshua Ravensbergen. That means the Sharks scouts saw a lot of him. If the Sharks call him at second overall, you can be sure they know what they’re getting.
