NCAA Players Made Up 82 Percent of 2026 PWHL Draft
Caroline Harvey went first overall to Vancouver, and 59 former college players were selected in the first draft to include four expansion clubs.
Fifty-nine former NCAA women's hockey players were selected in the 2026 PWHL Draft, accounting for 82 percent of all picks in the first draft held with four expansion franchises on the clock.
Caroline Harvey went first overall to the Vancouver Goldeneyes, who had been assigned the top selection before the league's expansion signing phases wrapped up in June. The Patty Kazmaier Award winner and former Wisconsin captain is the first defenseman taken first overall in league history.
Wisconsin got all five of its drafted players off the board in the opening round. Laila Edwards went fourth and Lacey Eden fifth, followed by Kirsten Simms at eighth and Vivian Jungels at 11th.
Penn State led all schools with seven selections, coming off the program's first Women's Frozen Four appearance in 2026. Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio State each had five picks, as did Cornell, the only school with four or more selections that did not reach the 2026 NCAA tournament. Nineteen NCAA programs had at least one player drafted.
The draft class had been flagged as unusually deep well before the picks were made. Ahead of it, expansion Las Vegas acquired an extra first-round selection from Detroit as part of the sign-and-trade that sent Hilary Knight to Detroit, a deal that could not be completed until the league's trade freeze lifted June 16, the day before the draft.
