The Vancouver Goldeneyes won the PWHL's first overall pick in the 2026 PWHL Draft after finishing the 2025-26 season with the most draft order points.
Using the Gold Plan, the Goldeneyes recorded five points after being mathematically eliminated from the PWHL playoff picture. They were the second team eliminated from the playoff race with last place Seattle. Seattle also recorded five points, but had less wins resulting in them losing the draft pick.
Vancouver secured top spot beating Minnesota 4-3 in overtime, followed by a Seattle loss to Montreal 2-1 in their final games of the season.
Vancouver will not get the opportunity to select generational talent Caroline Harvey. This season Harvey won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the NCAA's top player, and was named the Olympic MVP and Best Defender. At only 23, they're just more credentials on an already stacked resume that has seen Harvey twice named Best Defender at the World Championships. Prior to the PWHL, it's a list of accolades that would already have had Harvey destined for the Hall of Fame. Now, she's only at the beginning of a career, where she'll need to add professional hardware to her resume to ensure her destiny.
Harvey is a game changing talent for any team combining speed, physicality, and game breaking skill on both sides of the puck. She's regarded as the best defender on the planet already, and she's yet to touch PWHL ice.
If Vancouver didn't want a defender, they could opt for Abbey Murphy, a pugnacious yet dynamic forward who should immediately become one of the top scorers in the PWHL. The option to select a player who can be both, playing as a starring forward as former World Championship MVP, or a starring defender as an Olympic All-Star in Laila Edwards.
This is where the questions come in, because no one, including the league, actually knows. If the league does know, they've yet to inform teams. The PWHL's Gold Plan stipulates the the draft order of eliminated teams will be settled using draft order points.
As the PWHL website reads, "The remainder of the draft order of selection will be determined by Gold Plan points among non-playoff teams and playoff results for the four teams who qualify. If new teams are added through expansion, the final draft order of selection for all picks following the first overall selection will be confirmed at a later date."
The league has openly stated they'll be expanding by 2-4 teams, meaning the second portion of that statement is where the questions begin.
Staff in the league are worried that non-playoff teams may miss out on the talent entering the league via the 2026 Draft, a cohort fans, coaches, GMs, scouts, and players have all been watching with anticipation since the league was founded.
The league is expected to begin disseminating information regarding expansion for the 2026-27 season in the coming days, with plans for the 2026 Draft, including date, location, number of rounds, and order of selection still to come.