There is plenty of speculation at the moment regarding who the New York Rangers could select with the fifth-overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Conventional wisdom seems to point towards Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, and Caleb Malhotra, all forwards, going 1-2-3 in the first round. After that, three high-end blueliners would remain on the board as the best available prospects.
Unless one of McKenna, Stenberg, or Malhotra slides to the Rangers at #5, their best bet is to take Carson Carels. The Athletic ranks Carels as the seventh-best prospect in the draft and the fourth-best blueliner.
But there’s one interesting reason why Carels, and not Chase Reid, Alberts Smits, or Keaton Verhoeff, make sense for the Rangers.
News broke on Monday that Carels would be committing to the University of North Dakota for next season.
Projected top-10 pick Carson Carels has committed to the University of North Dakota.
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) May 18, 2026
And it just so happens that another Rangers first-round pick, EJ Emery, also plays at the University of North Dakota.
The 20-year-old Emery played 38 games last season, scoring three goals and totaling 13 points. The right-shot blueliner may just become a defense partner with Carels in North Dakota.
So, why not have both of them develop together as Rangers prospects? After all, they could end up becoming a defense pairing at the NHL level at some point down the line.
For those who believe in taking the best player available, yes, there may be other players available by the time the Rangers pick at #5. Anything can happen. But there is no question the Rangers could use high-end talent across the board.
And the club could do much worse than picking a defenseman, The Athletic describes as:
“…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. Carels has good hands and vision and can activate into plays.”
The Athletic does caution that Carels may not blossom into a power play quarterback. But he could become a great top-four defenseman who could play “significant NHL minutes.”
With the purported rebuild Chris Drury is about to undertake, Carels sounds like the sort of player the Rangers could include in a solid core of young, rising stars.
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