Manon Rheaume didn’t make a selection in the 2026 PWHL Draft until 90-some minutes into the draft, but when she did, it reverberated throughout the building, into the basement, and straight to Andrea Brändli’s delighted heart.
When Detroit PWHL appeared on the “On the clock” backboard at the Fox Theatre on Wednesday, June 17, indicating the franchise was up next in the second round, cheers came loudly, effortlessly and continuously from the stands. The team had traded its first-round pick to acquire Hilary Knight, one of women’s hockey’s all-time greats, pushing the first pick to No. 15, three spots into the second round. But Rheaume, the general manager, still nabbed her target – and how perfect that the woman who once made history for being in goal for two NHL exhibition games selected a goaltender.
“I got a little fangirl moment up there, to be honest,” Brändli said. “It was incredible standing up there with her. She’s a trailblazer herself and being her first pick in a draft was incredible.”
Brändli is something of a trailblazer herself: When she debuts in the PWHL next season, she’ll be 30 years old. It was her experience at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, where she backstopped Switzerland to the bronze medal, that convinced her to make herself available in the draft. She was looking soon after winning the third-place game, sitting on her bed, and knowing she was ready for a bigger stage than that offered by her pro team, Frölunda, in Sweden.
“It was a huge part,” Brändli said. “I was thinking about coming here before that, but the bronze medal was the tipping point when I was 100% sure that I would end up with this league and I will end up as, hopefully, a starter.
“At that point, I fought for that and I worked for that. Now, here in Detroit, I’m super-excited to get started.”
Brändli allowed just eight goals in the seven games it took Switzerland to win a medal, earning Best Goaltender at the 2026 Olympics honors.
She has spent the past three seasons playing in Sweden’s women’s hockey league, but is well familiar with the U.S from having played collegiately at Ohio State from 2018-22 and at Boston University from 2022-23.
“I think it will help a lot,” Brändli said. “I’m used to the American style of hockey. I’ve played against USA and Canada plenty of times also in international settings, so I know who they are and how American hockey can be. I think I can use that to my advantage.”
Brändli’s new teammates include multiple women who won gold for the U.S. team at the 2026 Games: Knight, who Detroit acquired the day before the draft in a package that included its first pick, at No. 3, as well as Cayla Barnes, Hannah Bilka and Britta Curl-Salemme.
“I’m super-honored to be on the same team as them,” Brändli said. “Not just Hilary Knight, but everyone that is on the team right now. It’s crazy. I get a little goosebump talking about all of that because it’s going to be a cool first day when I step into that locker room with all of those incredible people. Just bringing that confidence with us on the ice, knowing what background we have, what CV we have, is going to be key to a great success this season.”
And that the woman behind it all is Rheaume? Just perfect.
“Because of her, I always wanted to be the second woman to play in the NHL,” Brändli said. “I can say that she has had a lot of impact on my career, especially when I was young. Talking to her, and I had a call with them two or three weeks ago − being on the call, I just felt welcome. I felt like the right place to be, and that’s why I’m so happy that it ended up like that. I can’t wait.”
Contact Helene St. James at Hstjames@freepress.com.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Andrea Brändli on PWHL Detroit draft pick: ‘I just felt welcome’
Reporting by Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
