The Professional Women’s Hockey League will hold its first expansion draft on June 17 at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, with the new Vancouver Goldeneyes wielding the top selection. Twelve clubs will choose from a record 235 eligible players—128 forwards, 68 defenders and 40 goaltenders—across six rounds. Seventy‑two athletes will secure professional contracts in a night that reshapes the league’s talent map.

Among the 23 draft‑eligible women, five U.S. Olympians arrive fresh from Milan, headlined by tournament MVP and Best Defender Caroline Harvey. The 23‑year‑old Wisconsin Badgers blueliner posted career‑high 18 goals and 64 points in 33 games last season, adding two goals and seven points in seven Olympic matches. Her teammate Abbey Murphy echoes the excitement, calling the class “stacked.”

The draft follows a breakout 2025‑26 campaign that pushed the PWHL past one million fans, averaging 9,300 spectators per game and selling out arenas like Madison Square Garden. Expansion clubs in Hamilton, Las Vegas, San Jose and Detroit give new markets for stars such as Wisconsin’s Kirstin Simms and Penn State’s Tessa Janecke. The picks will shape rosters for the next three seasons.