One year out of their inaugural draft, Cara Gardner Morey and the Vancouver Goldeneyes staff are heading into another entry draft, this time with the most coveted spot, the first overall pick.
After a disappointing season, the team picked up enough Gold Plan points to win the tiebreaker and draft first overall. Although the expansion process greatly helped the team, they didn’t have a very strong draft. Let’s look back at the 2025 PWHL Entry Draft to see how the picks have fared long term, and then ahead to what the Vancouver Goldeneyes need to do to shore up losses from the expansion process.
2025 PWHL Draft: Vancouver Goldeneyes Recap
Michelle Karvinen (Round 1: 7th)
Drafting Michelle Karvinen as their first overall pick was a gamble, and it’s one that I think was foolish. Granted, I’m looking at it with hindsight, but the Finnish star did not have the season everyone thought she might in her foray to the PWHL. Karvinen finished the season with three goals and six assists in 30 games, good enough for ninth among all Goldeneyes players. This is a dramatic drop from previous seasons in Europe, where she once put up 114 points in 20 games.
Obviously, the PWHL is a different ball game, so there had to be an expectation of a drop of production coming in. They probably shouldn’t be your first selection. Drafting a player who is heading to the end of her career means you need to win right away, and that didn’t happen this season either. Karvinen said in the exit day media availability that she will be thinking about retirement this offseason.
Instead, the Goldeneyes could have drafted five of the top points-getting rookie forwards ahead of Karvinen. Abby Newhook had 14 points, the second most of all rookie forwards, and she was chosen in the fifth round by Boston. The same can be said for Wozniewicz, Hustler, Mlýnková, and Wheeler. A team that struggled for offense really could have used one of these players over their first overall suggestion.
Kristen Campbell (Trade from Toronto)
The Vancouver Goldeneyes traded their second-round pick to Toronto in exchange for Kristen Campbell, which may have been their best move of the draft. The pairing of Maschmeyer and Campbell was one of the strongest in the PWHL, and having two veteran goalies came in handy as the rest of the team struggled to get going.
The Sceptres used that pick to draft Kiara Zanon, who put up 3 points in her rookie year.
Nina Jobst-Smith (Round 3: 3rd)
The Sceptres also traded their third pick in Round 3 to the Goldeneyes. The Goldeneyes used this slot to take defender Nina Jobst-Smith. Jobst-Smith had a great college career at Minnesota-Duluth and has been a mainstay on the German national team since she was 19.
Unfortunately for both Jobst-Smith and the Goldeneyes, she was injured when she joined the team and only got to play 20 games. I don’t think we fully got to see what she was capable of in the PWHL, and it didn’t end up having much payoff for the Goldeneyes. Jobst-Smith signed with PWHL Detroit in the fourth phase of the expansion process, so the Goldeneyes will have to watch from afar to see how she grows in the league.
Brianna Brooks (Round 4: 8th)
The Goldeneyes selected Brianna Brooks at the end of the fourth round. Brooks, an assistant captain at Penn State, dressed for one game with the Goldeneyes in the 2025-26 season and played zero minutes.
There weren’t too many players drafted after Brooks who had strong seasons, other than Abby Newhook. Brooks was definitely a bust compared to the Goldeneyes fifth round pick, Madison Samoskevich.
Madison Samoskevich (Round 5: 7th)
When the Goldeneyes drafted Samoskevich in the fifth round, she immediately caught my eye. Her versatility as both a defender and a forward put her in a unique position. The Goldeneyes used her as both a forward and a defender, depending on injuries and lineup needs. Samoskevich got her first PWHL goal this season as well. I’d say she was one of the best surprises of the Goldeneyes 2025 season.
Chanreet Bassi (Round 6: 8th)
Bassi was the last pick in the draft, so it’s hard to say that she was a bust. She was the first UBC player and first South Asian player to be drafted into the PWHL, which is a great story. Bassi did not make the team out of training camp.
2026 PWHL Entry Draft: What the Vancouver Goldeneyes Need
Even with the slow draft order rollout, it’s no secret that the Vancouver Goldeneyes will be picking first overall this year. It’s also no secret that Caroline Harvey is likely going to be selected first overall. Harvey fits with Vancouver’s offensive-defender style that they had with Thompson and Jaques. Goldeneyes defenders scored 42% of the team’s goals last season.
Going further into the draft, the Goldeneyes will likely need to fill a few spots, depending on how the free agency signing period goes. The Goldeneyes lost a third-line defensive pairing in Bard and Jobst-Smith to the expansion process, so they’ll need to pick up a couple of defenders in the draft or through free agency and trades. They also lost Boreen to the expansion process, which leaves a space for a second or third-line winger.
Most importantly, the Goldeneyes need to get some goal scoring in this draft. That was one of their biggest weaknesses last season. Someone like Izzy Wunder or Sloane Matthews could be a good fit there in the second round.
Sentimentally, there are a couple of strong players with BC ties that could be a good fit for the Goldeneyes. Jade Iginla, who was born in Kelowna and played at RINK HA Kelowna prep, comes into the draft after four years at Brown, where she put up 99 points. Grace Elliott also grew up in BC and played at UBC, where she won the USports Player of the Year Award and had the third most points of any USports player.
The Goldeneyes will also have to consider the possibility of Karvinen and Thompson retiring and plan for that in the draft and off-season signings. The PWHL Draft is on June 17 in Detroit, Michigan.
