(Photo credit: Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The Vancouver Goldeneyes have secured the first pick in the 2026 Professional Women's Hockey League Draft, with Olympic gold medal-winning defenseman Caroline Harvey expected to be their selection.

The PWHL awards its No. 1 draft choice in a manner that differs from other pro leagues, using what has been dubbed the Gold Plan. Instead of the pick being handed to the team with the worst record, or distributed through a lottery system, the PWHL team that earns the most points after being eliminated from postseason consideration secures the spot.

With their 4-3 overtime defeat of the Minnesota Frost on Saturday night coupled with the Seattle Torrent's 2-1 shootout loss to the Montreal Victoire, the first-year Goldeneyes secured the first pick. Saturday was the last day of regular-season play.

The full draft order is still to be determined -- as is the date of the draft, which is expected to be held in June.

Harvey, 23, turns pro after leading Wisconsin to three NCAA championships -- plus one runner-up finish -- in her four seasons with the Badgers. In 150 games, she produced 201 points (54 goals, 147 assists), 15 power-play markers and 12 game-winning goals.

The NCAA title capped a busy hockey season for Harvey. She won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA in the Milan-Cortina Games, adding it to the silver medal she won in Beijing in 2022 as a 19-year-old. She was MVP of the Olympic Tournament with nine points in five games, an Olympics mark for an American defender.

Harvey also was named Best Defenseman at the 2003 and 2005 World Championships, both of which the United States won.

She is from Salem, N.H.

--Field Level Media