Vancouver landed its franchise player, as the Goldeneyes selected Wisconsin and USA Hockey defender Caroline “KK” Harvey No. 1 overall at Wednesday’s 2026 PWHL Draft.
23-year-old Harvey enters the league with a stacked résumé, including winning Olympic gold and tournament MVP in Milan, three NCAA titles, and IIHF Player of the Year — with the final honor announced just hours before the draft.
Abbey Murphy went second to Seattle, followed by Tessa Janecke to Las Vegas, and Laila Edwards to San Jose at No. 4, making the Wisconsin product the league’s highest-drafted Black player on record.
Boston Fleet Sweeps 2026 PWHL Awards
Boston cleaned up at this week’s PWHL awards, as goalie Aerin Frankel took home both the Billie Jean King MVP trophy and Goalie of the Year — becoming the first PWHL goalie to win MVP honors.
The USA skated to victory on Sunday, taking down archrival Canada in a 4-3 overtime thriller to earn the team's 11th IIHF Women’s World Championship title.
The US is now closing in on Canada's record 13 World Championship wins, setting the tone in the run-up to next year’s Winter Olympics as North America’s PWHL showcased its growing influence on the international stage.
After Canada equalized the second-period goals from US defender Caroline Harvey and forward Abbey Murphy — the potential No. 1 pick in June's 2025 PWHL Draft — the game's third period saw Team USA lose starting goaltender Aerin Frankel to injury.
Backup goalie and IIHF World Championship debutant Gwyneth Philips stepped in, seeing the USA to a back-and-forth 3-3 tie at the end of regulation.
Philips's 17 saves — including 10 in overtime — allowed US forward and current Penn State junior Tessa Janecke to play hero, with the 20-year-old capitalizing on a turnover by tapping in a golden goal with three minutes left in the first overtime period.
"Just shows how strong we are as a group and how much we can persevere through anything," Janecke said afterwards. "I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group."
The tournament itself also proved to be a success, setting a new IIHF Women’s World Championship attendance record as 122,331 total fans took in the games in Czechia.
"I think this is a watershed moment for women's hockey, and it's really exciting to be a part of," said US captain Hilary Knight after earning her 10th Worlds gold medal.
In a shifting hockey landscape, the USA-Canada rivalry is only becoming more intense — and the looming 2026 Olympics will provide yet another chance to steal the sport's global spotlight.