The PWHL’s upcoming draft class is made up of a 235-player pool and, as highly anticipated, headed by five members of the U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning team, including defender Caroline Harvey.
The league on Tuesday revealed its player-declaration list, which represents its largest prospect pool since the PWHL’s inaugural draft totaled 268 in 2023. And this year’s group features 23 players who competed at the Milan Cortina Games in February.
The quality
and quantity of talent represents one of the reasons why the eight-team league elected to add as many as four expansion franchises for next season. Detroit, which will host the draft on June 17, has already been announced as a new team, with more to be added in the coming days.
Vancouver holds the No. 1 pick followed by Seattle, New York and Toronto. The rest of the order is unclear because of the ongoing playoffs and the league having yet to reveal where its new teams will select. It's also unclear how many total selections will be made, though the PWHL has already informed players not all will be drafted.
Harvey is regarded as the top prospect after leading the University of Wisconsin to its second straight NCAA championship and fourth in six years. The 23-year-old is a two-time Olympian and completed a season in which she earned Olympic tournament and college hockey MVP honors as this year's Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner.
Harvey's American teammates are expected to fill many of the top selections. The group includes forward/defender Laila Edwards and forward Kirsten Simms, who also played for Wisconsin, University of Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy and Penn State forward Tessa Janecke.
The top non-North American talent includes Sweden’s Thea Johansson (Minnesota-Duluth), Finland defender Nelli Laitinen (Minnesota) and Switzerland’s goalie tandem of Andrea Braendli and Saskia Maurer, who are making the jump from playing in Europe.
There are also several veterans in the mix, including four-time Canadian Olympian Meghan Agosta, who is seeking to resume her playing career at 39.
A majority of the prospects are North American with 32 players representing 13 other countries, including six from both Finland and Germany. Russia follows with five players declaring for the draft.
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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
