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Calgary Flames' first-round pick skipped the draft to stay on his farm

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Jun 27 2026, 2:31 am
Calgary Flames' first-round pick skipped the draft to stay on his farm
@mikemcintyrewpg/X

Carson Carels feels like he was born to play for the Calgary Flames.

The 18-year-old defenceman from the Prince George Cougars had arguably the biggest highlight of his life on Friday night, as he was selected sixth overall by the Flames. Despite going as high as he did, however, he wasn’t in the building to take the stage and throw on a Flames jersey.

Instead, Carels chose to stay home on his family’s farm located just outside of Cypress River, Manitoba. He had plenty of family and friends in attendance to help him celebrate the massive achievement.

“Right now we’re calving cows so it’s really busy back on the farm,” Carels said during the draft combine. “My dad’s kind of wanting me to get back there and help out. It kind of shaped me into who I am.

“There’s a lot of losses in farming, and I think you just do everything you can for an animal, and sometimes you still end up losing it. That kind of taught me a lot to just forget about the bad shifts and forget about all of that because there’s bigger things in life that happen.”

Make no mistake about it: Carels takes his hockey future very seriously. He’s described as having an extremely high work ethic, which, at least in part, likely comes from all the work he’s put in over the years at the family farm. Even better, he made it clear going into the draft that he was hoping to be drafted by a Canadian team.

Flames fans won’t get to see Carels in the lineup this coming season, as he recently announced his commitment to the University of North Dakota. There’s still some work to go in his development, but he has not just the skill, but the work ethic to turn into a very impactful NHLer in the years to come.

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