Today on the Hockey Edition of The IX Sports Podcast, host Maya Smith breaks down the 2026 Professional Women’s Hockey League Draft.
Caroline Harvey was selected by the Vancouver Goldeneyes as the first overall pick, which was not a surprise, Smith said.
Harvey is a three-time national champion with the University of Wisconsin, an Olympic gold medalist, an Olympic silver medalist, an Olympic MVP and multi-time world champion medalist. The only thing she hasn’t done is win a Walter Cup.
Abbey Murphy from the University of Minnesota went second overall to the Seattle Torrent.
“We’ve talked about Murphy on here before. She is a dangerous player. She is one of — was one of the best players for Team USA, one of the best NCAA players. I don’t think you can really go wrong with drafting her,” Smith said.
Due to the situation with Hilary Knight that Smith discussed on the podcast last week, PWHL Las Vegas was the only team with two first-round picks. They took forward Tessa Janecke and forward Lacey Eden. PWHL San Jose selected Laila Edwards, PWHL Hamilton drafted Nelli Laitinen and PWHL Detroit used its first-ever pick to select Andrea Brändli.
Brändli was the first goaltender taken in the draft. Manon Rhéaume, the general manager for Detroit, is recognized as one of the best women’s goalies of all time, and Brändli has looked up to her for years.
“It’s just all these things coming together,” Smith said. I have been a fan of Andrea Brändli for years at the World Championships and the Olympics. “Easily the best goaltender declared for the draft. [She] should come in and just be that starter, and Detroit didn’t have a goalie, so that’s really important. They pick Brändli up. I’m so excited to see what she can do.”
“Declaring for the draft is the way to get in in this league, but being drafted is not the only way to get in,” Smith said. “So if you haven’t declared for the draft, you can’t be a reserve player, you can’t come to training camp, things like that. But if you have, then those doors open … it’s not the end of the line to not be drafted.”
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