Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – With experience playing against some of the best players in junior, the latest recruit of the Griffins men's hockey team is exactly the hard-nosed defensive defenceman that head coach Zack Dailey has been looking for.
Carson Haynes logged 163 games in the Western Hockey League, finishing his career in 2023-24 with the Regina Pats after also playing for Tri-City and Vancouver over parts of five seasons in Major Junior.
"We have a lot of good puck-moving defencemen," said Dailey. "We don't have a ton of good defensive defencemen.
"Carson's going to help us shore up some of our defensive issues that we identified from last year. He was someone I reached out to early on. He had some options and we're happy he chose us."
The Taber, Alta. product finished with 39 points in his WHL career but was more leaned on for his abilities in his own end. Haynes fits the bill of what MacEwan's blueline was lacking last season when they allowed an average of 4.36 goals against/game.
"When you have a guy who has competed at the highest level of junior and brings his experience and knowledge to the team, it's going to help," said Dailey. "Playing against opposing teams' top lines, he's got experience playing against good players.
"Even as a young guy, we expect he can be trusted to start in the defensive zone no matter who's out."
Regina Pats graduate Carson Haynes will join his former Lethbridge Hurricanes teammate Brody Tallman on the Griffins in 2024-25 (Keith Hershmiller photo).
Dailey found out part-way through the recruiting process that Haynes is a close friend of fellow 2024-25 Griffins recruit Brody Tallman as they grew up playing together in Lethbridge's elite hockey stream.
Haynes was captain of the Lethbridge U15AAA squad in 2017-18 and was selected 58th overall in the 2018 WHL draft by Tri-City. His Golden Hawks teammate Tallman went 173rd to Portland, but ended up playing the bulk of his junior career in the AJHL, mostly with Canmore.
Next fall, they'll play together again for the first time since 2019-20 when they were teammates on the Lethbridge U18AAA Hurricanes.
Both bring different skills to the table and will be counted on as the Griffins aim to return to the Canada West post-season in 2024-25.
"Carson's a big body, skates well and defends well," said Dailey. "He's a competitive guy, really good with his stick, can play both left and right D, which is great versatility.
"He keeps things simple, is a good puck mover and doesn't turn over a whole bunch of pucks. He can play big minutes. He's just defensively sound and is really good in front of the net, clearing bodies and competing. That's something we lacked a little bit last year."
