Two years ago, the Calgary Flames used the ninth-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft to add an immensely talented blue-line prospect, Zayne Parekh. Earlier this week, the club acquired one more young, talented defenceman via trade: 2022 second-overall pick Simon Nemec.
On Friday night, at the 2026 NHL Draft, Calgary added yet another blue-chip talent to their promising defence corps, using their sixth-overall pick to select Carson Carels from the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
The Western Canada standout is coming off an exceptional season in B.C., and is headed to the University of North Dakota next season to suit up alongside fellow top prospect Keaton Verhoeff (who heard his name called three picks later, by San Jose).
Here’s everything you need to know about the Flames’ picks in the draft:
Sixth Overall: Carson Carels
2025-26 Team: Prince George Cougars, WHL
Stat Line: 20G-53A-73PTS in 58 games
What you need to know about the player:
Growing up in Cypress River, Man., Carels first made waves at the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy, 45 minutes south of his hometown.
The smooth-skating defender made quick work of putting his talent on display and dominating all corners of the sheet in Pilot Mound. His former coach at the academy, Rick McConnell, said he and his coaching staff were in awe the first time they saw the young defenceman fly around the ice.
By the time Carels was leaving Pilot Mound to join the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, he’d collected 103 points over 75 games, and established himself as a rare talent on the sheet.
“He was exceptional,” McConnell said earlier this month. “I just remember on the power play, always telling my forwards to keep their sticks on the ice, because you never knew when Carson would find players — he would see things that nobody else did, and put that puck through seams. I don't know how he did it, but he did it.
“He had a knack for reading plays before they happened — Gretzky-like, to be very honest.”
That elite vision led to an exceptional run through the junior hockey ranks, too. The 18-year-old enters the Flames organization fresh off a 20-goal, 73-point campaign in Prince George, and moves on from the WHL having collected 111 points through 125 games from the blue line overall.
Next up: a chance to test his skill against quicker, stronger opposition in the NCAA, alongside another sterling defensive talent.
Interesting fact:
Rather than taking the stage in Buffalo like his fellow top prospects, Carels decided to stay true to his roots and take in the Draft from his family’s farm, a few minutes outside Cypress River.
At the Scouting Combine two weeks ago, the young defender opened up about the lessons he learned from life on the farm, how it gave him not just his unceasing work ethic, but some crucial perspective, too.
“It shaped me and who I am — there’s a lot of losses in farming,” Carels said in Buffalo earlier this month. “I think, just, you do everything you can for an animal and sometimes you still end up losing it. That taught me a lot. To just forget about the bad shifts and forget about all that, because there’s bigger things in life that happen.”
30th Overall: Jack Hextall
2025-26 Team: Youngstown Phantoms, USHL
Stat Line: 20G-38A-58PTS in 59 games
What you need to know about the player:
The American centre is coming off a sterling season with the Phantoms. But he kicked off his campaign with some hardware before he even stepped foot on the ice at Youngstown’s Covelli Centre.
“This guy’s a worker bee,” Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino said on Friday night’s broadcast. “He got off to a really good start to the year, winning gold at the [2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup]. He had three points in the gold-medal game, and helped the U.S. to win that tournament.
“He’s always around the puck, always digging for pucks. I like this guy. I like the motor that he brings.”
Hextall was named the Americans’ player of the game for his efforts in that gold-medal tilt, before going on to post a point-per-game season with the Phantoms. The right-shot centre helped the club finish atop the USHL, and post its highest point total in franchise history.
According to Sportsnet’s Colby Armstrong, a staple in the Pittsburgh hockey community an hour’s drive from Youngstown, Ohio, Hextall grew to become a pivotal piece for the Phantoms this past season.
“Youngstown loves this guy,” Armstrong said Friday “I popped in there, had a chat with some of them, their strength coaches, everyone around the rink. … They raved about this kid. From last year’s season into this season, the improvement, his work ethic, his leadership around the room — he was the jewel of their team, the way they talk about everything that he does day-to-day.
“They’re getting one of those hard-nosed, in-there-every-day, getting-it-done leaders that you can build around.”
The 18-year-old is set to suit up for Michigan State next season, alongside fellow Flames prospect Cullen Potter, the No. 32 pick in last year's draft.
Interesting fact:
The centre's familiar name is a link to the Hextall family hockey dynasty.
Jack’s father, Cory, is the cousin of longtime NHL netminder Ron Hextall, who was himself a third-generation NHLer following in the footsteps of grandfather Bryan Hextall (who played 11 seasons in the league) and father Bryan Hextall Jr. (who played 10 seasons in the league).
Cory Hextall was a hockey player himself, logging four seasons in the NCAA, and his brother Donevan (Jack’s uncle), logged time in the AHL and ECHL after emerging as a WHL standout in Prince Albert.
Now, the young Flames prospect looks to one day continue his family’s legacy in the big leagues.
SECOND ROUND
36th Overall: C Chase Harrington
2025-26 Team: Spokane Chiefs, WHL
Stat Line: 28G-29A-57PTS in 61 games
The Prince George, B.C. native finished eighth in the WHL with 105 penalty minutes last season. He was picked eighth overall in the 2022 WHL Draft.
42nd Overall: G Tobias Trejbal
2025-26 Team: Youngstown Chiefs, USHL
Stat Line: 30-9-3, 2.12 GAA, .916 save%
The Flames traded up to make the six-foot-four Czech native the first goalie off the board. He was named USHL goalie of the year.
55th Overall: RW Alan Shaikhlislamov
2025-26 Team: Ufa Tolpar, MHL (Russia)
Stat Line: 18G-17A-35PTS in 31 games
A six-foot-one Russian, Shaikhlislamov just made the cut (Sept. 4, 2008) to be eligible for this year's draft. He missed a couple months last season due to injury.
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