10 players from Minnesota chosen amongst 72 overall picks

University of Wisconsin generates 5 first-round picks

Five University of Wisconsin, two University of Minnesota, and two Ohio State University players were selected in first round of the PWHL Draft Wednesday. The first round also included two Minnesotans.

As expected, Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey was selected No. 1 overall by the Vancouver Goldeneyes. Harvey, a defenseman, was also a member of the 2026 Olympic Gold Medal team. She led the nation in assists per game with 1.39, finishing with 18 goals and 46 assists in just 33 games.

University of Minnesota star Abbey Murphy was selected No. 2 overall by the Seattle Torrent. Murphy was also a member of the Gold Medal team and reached the 40-goal mark last season for the Gophers in just 31 games.

The No. 3 pick went to Las Vegas who chose Penn State’s Tessa Janecke. The Illinois native had 26 goals and 48 points in 31games for the Nittany Lions. She was also a member of Team USA.

Wisconsin Badger Laila Edwards, also a member of Team USA, was chosen fourth overall by San Jose. Edwards had 45 points in 28 games as a defenseman.

Wisconsin’s leading scorer Lacey Eden (29-48-77) was chosen fifth overall by Las Vegas.

Former Gopher defenseman Nelli Laitinen went sixth overall to Hamilton and was the top internationally born player to get drafted. Laitinen is from Lohja, Finland and had 10 goals and 20 assists in 33 games last season, finishing with a +32 rating.

The first Minnesota-born player to be drafted was Ohio State’s Emma Peschel, who went 7th overall to New York. A native of Edina, she attended Benilde-St. Margaret’s before going on to a fantastic career as a defenseman for the Buckeyes where she earned First -Team All-American honors this past winter. Peschel had 39 points in 34 games and was a +37 in her senior season. She was a +118 for her career.

Wisconsin’s Kirsten Simms was chosen with the eighth pick by the Toronto Sceptres. Simms had 26 goals and 59 points and was also a member of Team USA’s Gold Medal squad.

The Minnesota Frost had the No. 9 overall pick and chose Ohio State defenseman Sara Swiderski. Swiderski grew up in Canada and attended Clarkson for two seasons before joining Ohio State. This past season she finished with eight goals and 19 assists and was a +40.

Boston chose Cornell’s Grace Dwyer with the 10^th overall pick. A native of Pennsylvania, she was the fifth defenseman taken in the first 10 picks.

Another Minnesotan, Vivian Jungels, was chosen 11^th overall by Ottawa. Jungels was a 2022 graduate of Edina and was the winner of the Ms. Hockey Award as the state’s top senior player. A defenseman at Wisconsin, she finished this season with 21 points and was a +58.

PWHL Walter Cup Champion Montreal finished out the first round with the 12^th overall choice, taking forward Petra Nieminen of Finland.

The draft went six rounds with 72 players chosen. Thirty-one of the players were Americans. Fifty-nine of the 72 players played college hockey in the NCAA, two played in USports in Canada and 11 played overseas.

Penn State led the way for universities with seven players chosen. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State and Cornell each had five players drafted. UMD, Northeastern and Yale each had four. St. Cloud State and Minnesota State each had one player drafted.

Ten players who played high school hockey in Minnesota were chosen, representing eight different schools. Edina led with three players. Other schools included Wayzata, Elk River/Zimmerman, Andover, Chaska/Chanhassen, Owatonna, Holy Family, and Lakeville South.

Minnesota High School players Drafted

Draft notables with Minnesota ties:

Round 2:

• Sydney Morrow – University of Minnesota – 14^th overall – Seattle
• Sloane Matthews – Wayzata HS/Ohio State – 16^th overall – San Jose
• Thea Johansson – University of Minnesota-Duluth – 17^th overall – Vancouver
• Jamie Nelson – Andover HS/Minnesota State/University of Minnesota – 20^th overall – Toronto

Round 3

• Josefin Bouveng – University of Minnesota – 29^th overall – Las Vegas
• Maddy Christian – Elk River/Zimmerman HS/Penn State – 33^rd overall – Minnesota
• MK O’Brien – University of Minnesota-Duluth – 34th overall – Detroit

Round 4

• Katelyn Roberts – Chaska/Chanhassen HS/Penn State – 43^rd overall – New York
• Jane Kuehl – Edina HS/Princeton University – 44th overall – Toronto
• Tova Henderson – University of Minnesota-Duluth – 45^th overall – Minnesota

Round 5

• Grace Wolfe – Owatonna HS/St. Cloud State University – 55^th overall – New York

Round 6

• Ashley Messier – University of Minnesota-Duluth – 61^st overall – Vancouver
• Maeve Kelly – Holy Family HS/Boston University – 70^th overall – Boston
• Taylor Otremba – Lakeville South HS/Minnesota State University – 71st overall – Ottawa

DRAFT NOTES (courtesy of PWHL):

• Harvey was the first defender to be selected first overall in a PWHL Entry Draft.
• Abbey Murphy (University of Minnesota) was the first forward to be selected, going second overall to the Seattle Torrent.
• PWHL Las Vegas was the only team with two first-round picks, selecting forward Tessa Janecke (Penn State) third overall (via PWHL Detroit), and forward Lacey Eden (University of Wisconsin) fifth overall, and led the draft with eight picks in total.
• PWHL San Jose used its first-ever pick to select forward Laila Edwards (University of Wisconsin) fourth overall.
• PWHL Hamilton selected defender Nelli Laitinen (University of Minnesota) with its first-ever pick, making the Finnish rearguard the first international player chosen at sixth overall.
• PWHL Detroit used its first-ever pick to select Switzerland’s Andrea Brändli (Frölunda HC), making her the first goaltender chosen at 15th overall.
• Three Michiganders were selected in front of the hometown crowd, including forward Kirsten Simms (Plymouth) at eighth overall to the Toronto Sceptres, defender Casey Borgiel (Port Huron) at 22nd overall to Detroit, and forward Elyssa Biederman (Franklin) at 30th overall to Hamilton.
• The first Canadian selected in the draft was defender Sara Swiderski (Ohio State University) of Langley, BC, going ninth overall to the Minnesota Frost.
• The 72 players selected in the six-round process include 42 forwards, 22 defenders, and eight goaltenders.
• Per hometowns, the draft class is represented across eight different countries: United States (31), Canada (30), Finland (4), Switzerland (2), Sweden (2), Czechia (1), Denmark (1), and Russia (1).
• 14 players competed in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan, representing five countries: Americans Edwards, Harvey, Janecke, Murphy, and Simms; Finland’s Laitinen, Elisa Holopainen, Petra Nieminen, and Viivi Vainikka; Sweden’s Josefin Bouveng and Thea Johansson; Switzerland’s Brändli and Saskia Maurer; Italy’s Gabriella Durante.
• A total of 59 players were selected from NCAA programs, 11 from professional teams, and two from U SPORTS.
• The 59 NCAA players represent 19 programs: Penn State (7), Cornell (5), Ohio State (5), Minnesota (5), Wisconsin (5), Northeastern (4), Minnesota-Duluth (4), Yale (4), Colgate (3), Princeton (3), University of Connecticut (3), Boston University (2), Clarkson (2), Quinnipiac (2), Brown (1), Minnesota State (1), Providence College (1), St. Cloud State (1), and St. Lawrence University (1).
• The 10 professional players represent three leagues: SDHL (8), SWHL (1), and ZhHL (1).
• The two U SPORTS players represent Concordia University and the University of British Columbia.
• A total of 235 eligible players declared for the draft, representing the largest talent pool of prospective players since the inaugural season.

Click here for full draft results: https://www.thepwhl.com/en/draft