2026 PWHL Draft Recap

The 2026 Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) Draft featured the largest class of prospective players since its first season, including Olympic gold medalists, decorated award winners, and closely watched collegiate skaters. But before we get into the draft recap, let’s review the key components that led up to this day.

Expansions, Expansions, Expansions

The PWHL started in 2023 with six inaugural teams: Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montréal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge, and Toronto Sceptres. In 2025, the first round of expansions took place, adding the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent. Prior to this draft, the League added Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas, and San Jose, marking the largest expansion round in the League’s history thus far and bringing the total teams in the League up to 12.

The Expansion Process and Rules

PWHL rosters consist of 23 active players with up to 3 reserve players. In order to help support the roster foundation of the new teams as well as maintain the growth of existing teams, the PWHL enacted a six-phase framework for the Expansion Roster Distribution Process. The key points of this process are as follows:

Expansion Teams:

1. Expansion teams will have 10 players under contract for the 2026-2027 season.
2. Expansion teams will acquire these 10 players through phases of signings and, if necessary, a player selection process.
   1. Expansion teams must submit a 20-player list identifying players they intend to target for negotiations, which includes all unprotected players from 2025-2026 rosters.

Existing Teams:

1. Existing teams can lose up to 4 players under contract for the 2026-2027 season.
2. Existing teams can protect 3 players under contract for the 2026-2027 season.
   1. Players on expiring contracts can sign with any existing team.
   2. Any signed player automatically counts as one of the existing team’s 3 protections.
3. Once the expansion team phases are complete, existing teams may negotiate with and sign their own remaining players on expiring contracts
   1. These players can choose to sign with their existing team or wait until the Open Signing Period after the Draft, during which all remaining eligible and undrafted players can sign with any of the 12 teams in the League.

For more details on the expansion process and rules, check out the Expansion Roster Distribution Protocols guide here.

Pre-Draft Rosters

In the phases leading up to the Draft, the 4 new expansion teams secured their 10 players. (Courtesy of the PWHL Detroit, PWHL Hamilton, PWHL Las Vegas, and PWHL San Jose Instagrams)

Full details of the signings can be found here.

Notable movement after these signings includes:

1. Detroit receives Hilary Knight (forward) | San Jose receives 1st round selection in 2026 PWHL Draft
2. Boston receives Ella Huber (forward) & Entry Draft Pick #27 | Detroit receives Entry Draft Pick #22 & Entry Draft Pick #34
3. Las Vegas receives Entry Draft Pick #13 and Entry Draft Pick #49 | Vancouver receives Abby Boreen (forward) & Entry Draft Pick #17

The 2026 Draft Order

The Draft features six rounds of selection with the same following order:

1. Vancouver Goldeneyes
2. Seattle Torrent
3. PWHL Detroit
4. PWHL San Jose
5. PWHL Las Vegas
6. PWHL Hamilton
7. New York Sirens
8. Toronto Sceptres
9. Minnesota Frost
10. Boston Fleet
11. Ottawa Charge
12. Montréal Victoire

The 2026 Draft Recap

Held in Hockeytown itself on June 17th, 2026, the 2026 PWHL Draft was the fourth annual draft in the League. The Fox Theatre in Detroit was witness to 72 draft picks for the 2026-2027 PWHL season. Here are just a few of them:

Caroline (KK) Harvey

Caroline (KK) Harvey is a defender from the University of Wisconsin, selected by the Vancouver Goldeneyes as the first overall pick in the 2026 PWHL Draft. With several Olympic medals under her belt, she was named Best Defenseman at the 2023 and 2025 World Championships and 2026 IIHF Female Player of the Year. She is also a 3-time NCAA national champion with the Wisconsin Badgers and has set multiple program records, marking her place in history on several accounts.

Laila Edwards

Laila Edwards is another defenseman from the University of Wisconsin, selected 4th overall by PWHL San Jose. Like Harvey, she is a member of the US Women’s national ice hockey team, an Olympic medalist, and a 3-time NCAA national champion with the Wisconsin Badgers. In 2026, Edwards became the first Black woman to not only play hockey for Team USA at the Olympics, but to receive a gold medal in hockey for Team USA.

Andrea Brändli

Andrea Brändli, goaltender, was selected 15th overall by PWHL Detroit as the franchise’s first-ever draft pick. Unlike the other 3 expansion teams, Detroit did not sign a goaltender to its initial 10-player roster, which meant one definitely needed to be secured during the draft. Brändli played 4 seasons at Ohio State, 2018-2022, before transferring to Boston University for the 2022-2023 season, playing a total of 116 games at the collegiate level. She then joined the Swedish Women’s Hockey League in 2023, going on to compete with Switzerland for the 2026 Olympic Games and earn Best Goaltender at the tournament for her performance.

Congratulations to everyone who was drafted in the 2026 PWHL Draft. This season will certainly be one to watch. For more details on the players and the new rosters, check out these links below:

Full list of draft-eligible players

Full list of drafted players and their new teams