In the run up to the 2025 NHL draft, much was made about the “farm strength” that pushed Brady Martin’s physical development ahead of many of his peers.

Carson Carels is cut from a similar cloth, and he has been bulking up at warp speed as his draft day approaches. To start the 2025-26 season, the Prince George Cougars listed the 17-year-old at 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds. By Christmastime, he was tipping the scales at 194 when he donned the maple leaf as Canada’s youngest player at the world juniors. “He’s turning into a man,” said Cougars coach-GM Mark Lamb. “He can skate. He can shoot. And playing in the world juniors is a big step. There’s a pecking order there. He was fine there, too.”

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