The draft is finally here.
The 2026 PWHL Draft is set to take place on Wednesday, June 17, at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. The draft begins at 5 p.m. ET and will be televised locally on WJBK-TV (Ch. 20 in Detroit) and nationally on Scripps Sports, with streaming available on the PWHL YouTube channel.
The Vancouver Goldeneyes are scheduled to pick first overall in this year’s draft, followed by the Seattle Torrent. Detroit’s still-unnamed expansion franchise will make its first-ever draft pick, but it likely won’t come in the first round, as Detroit traded its first-round pick to the Las Vegas expansion franchise for forward Hilary Knight.
The top prospect in this year’s draft is Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey, who along with Knight won gold for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Plymouth native Kirsten Simms, also a defender at Wisconsin and Team USA member, is expected to be taken high in the draft, as well.
We’ll have all the live updates from Wednesday’s draft right here.
PWHL Draft live updates
This section will be updated after the draft begins.
PWHL first-round picks
PWHL second-round picks
13. Vancouver:
14. Seattle:
15. Detroit:
16. San Jose:
17. Las Vegas:
18. Hamilton:
19. New York:
20. Toronto:
21. Minnesota:
22. Detroit (via Boston):
23. Ottawa:
24. Montreal:
Megan Keller wins PWHL award
Farmington Hills native and Boston Fleet star Megan Keller won Defender of the Year award at last night’s PWHL Awards in Detroit. The Fleet almost swept in last night’s awards, with representatives for MVP (goalie Aerin Frankel), Rookie if the Year (Haley Winn) and Coach of the Year (Kris Sparre).
Keller’s biggest accomplishment this year happened away from the PWHL, however, with the Michigander scoring the winning goal in overtime against Canada in the gold medal game in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
PWHL mock draft
The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian released her PWHL mock draft today, and unsurprisingly, she has Harvey going at No. 1 to Vancouver.
She also has Plymouth native Kirsten Simms going No. 5 overall to Las Vegas, with the expansion franchise picking Simms with the second of their two top-5 picks. As for Detroit … she doesn’t mention them, since her mock draft only spans the first round.
PWHL Draft top prospects
The consensus top prospect in this year’s draft is Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey, who won three national titles with the Badgers (including back-to-back titles in 2025 and 2026) and a gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Olympics. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the world, Harvey scored two goals and recorded seven assists in the 2026 Olympics and was named the tournament MVP.
Other top prospects include Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy, Wisconsin defender Laila Edwards (also on Team USA) and Plymouth native Kirsten Simms, who along with Edwards and Harvey won gold for Team USA at the Olympics.
Who are the PWHL expansion teams?
The PWHL is expanding from eight teams in the 2025-26 season to 12 teams in the 2026-27 season, adding Hamilton, Las Vegas, San Jose and Detroit to its list of teams. None of the four teams currently has a name.
Why doesn’t Detroit have a first-round pick?
Detroit’s PWHL expansion franchise was awarded the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 draft, but that’s not where Detroit will make its first pick.
That’s because Detroit dealt the pick in a sign-and-trade with the Las Vegas expansion franchise for forward Hilary Knight. That gives Las Vegas the No. 3 overall pick, though Detroit still has its second-through-sixth rounders intact.
PWHL Draft time
PWHL Draft channel
The 2026 PWHL Draft will air locally on Channel 20 and nationally on Scripps Sports. Detroit viewers with DirecTV won’t have access to Channel 20 thanks to an ongoing dispute between Scripps and the provider, but the draft will be available for anyone to stream free on the league’s YouTube channel.
PWHL Detroit draft picks
Detroit’s PWHL team traded its first-round pick (No. 3 overall) to Las Vegas for forward Hilary Knight. Detroit still owns six picks in the draft, however.
Complete 2026 PWHL Draft order
(2025-26 record – featuring wins, OT wins, OT losses and regulation losses – in parentheses)
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: PWHL Draft time, TV channel and live updates from downtown Detroit
Reporting by Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
