The PWHL announced this morning that the 2026 PWHL Awards and Entry Draft will take place in Hockeytown in June. The news came alongside the league’s official announcement that its ninth franchise will call Detroit, Michigan home starting next season.
The PWHL Awards ceremony will be on June 16. The 2026 PWHL Entry Draft will take place on June 17 at the Fox Theatre as a ticketed event open to fans.
“We’re excited that we’ll give this community an early chance to get involved and to watch your team be built,” PWHL Executive Vice President of Business Operations Amy Scheer, said during the team’s introductory press conference.
This will be the first time that the PWHL will hold its awards ceremony and draft in an expansion city. The 2025 PWHL Awards and Draft took place in Ottawa, ON, while the 2024 events were in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The PWHL will announce the official order of the 2026 entry draft in the coming weeks. Currently, only the Vancouver Goldeneyes’ picking first overall is official. Then, among existing teams, the Seattle Torrent will pick second, the New York Sirens third, and the Toronto Sceptres fourth. However, those picks may not necessarily be #2-4 depending on where the expansion team(s) slot in.
University of Wisconsin/Team USA defender Caroline Harvey is this year’s likely first overall pick. Other top prospects include Wisconsin forward/USA defender Laila Edwards and University of Minnesota/Team USA forward Abbey Murphy. However, the talent doesn’t drop off much from there, with numerous other outstanding collegiate players with international experience and European players hoping to make the jump expected to throw their hats into the ring.
The 2026 draft declaration window opened on Sunday, March 1, and will close on Friday, May 8. Last season, the PWHL released the draft declaration one week after the window closed. 167 players declared for the entry draft in 2024, with 199 declaring last season. It will not be a surprise to see that number grow again this year, as the PWHL is reportedly planning to continue expanding to reach 12 teams ahead of the 2026-27 season.