NEW YORK — One month before the Professional Women's Hockey League draft, Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards were plotting.
After a whirlwind 2025-26 season, the duo were in New York as keynote speakers at the espnW summit. For over 30 minutes, they discussed winning Olympic gold medals with Team USA — where Edwards and Harvey were among the top scorers in the tournament — and their third national championship victory with the Wisconsin Badgers.
But after the panel was complete, their conversation turned to the future — and the fact that the two best friends will be separated for the first time in nearly a decade.
"That's a lot of our conversations lately," Harvey said in an interview with The Athletic last month.
At the 2026 PWHL Draft on Wednesday night, Harvey, who won Olympic MVP and the 2026 Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in college hockey, is expected to go first overall to the Vancouver Goldeneyes. In a perfect world, Edwards, a 6-foot-1 dual threat who can play forward or defense, also lands in the Pacific Northwest, as the Seattle Torrent have the No. 2 pick. Their Team USA teammate Abbey Murphy, who was second in The Athletic's prospect ranking in March, could also reasonably go second overall.
After a whirlwind 2025-26 season, the duo were in New York as keynote speakers at the espnW summit. For over 30 minutes, they discussed winning Olympic gold medals with Team USA — where Edwards and Harvey were among the top scorers in the tournament — and their third national championship victory with the Wisconsin Badgers.
But after the panel was complete, their conversation turned to the future — and the fact that the two best friends will be separated for the first time in nearly a decade.
"That's a lot of our conversations lately," Harvey said in an interview with The Athletic last month.
At the 2026 PWHL Draft on Wednesday night, Harvey, who won Olympic MVP and the 2026 Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in college hockey, is expected to go first overall to the Vancouver Goldeneyes. In a perfect world, Edwards, a 6-foot-1 dual threat who can play forward or defense, also lands in the Pacific Northwest, as the Seattle Torrent have the No. 2 pick. Their Team USA teammate Abbey Murphy, who was second in The Athletic's prospect ranking in March, could also reasonably go second overall.
9 hours ago
