The 2023 PWHL Draft was the first draft in Professional Women's Hockey League history, and took place on September 18, 2023, at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, Ontario.
Minnesota Golden Gophers forward Taylor Heise was the first player chosen in the draft, selected by Minnesota. In all, 90 players were selected over 15 rounds of drafting.
List of eligible players 286 eligible players from 17 different countries declared for the inaugural PWHL draft.
Top NCAA/U Sports prospects Source: The Hockey News ranking (September 5, 2023).
Ranking Player School 1 Taylor Heise (F) Minnesota Golden Gophers 2 Alina Müller (F) Northeastern Huskies 3 Sophie Jaques (D) Ohio State Buckeyes 4 Emma Maltais (F) Ohio State Buckeyes 5 Emma Söderberg (G) Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 6 Grace Zumwinkle (F) Minnesota Golden Gophers 7 Chloé Aurard (F) Northeastern Huskies 8 Jesse Compher (F) Wisconsin Badgers 9 Gabbie Hughes (F) Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs 10 Ashton Bell (D) Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
Format The draft consisted of 15 rounds. The order of picks in the first round was decided by using a computerized list randomizer during a video conference call with all six teams' general managers. In the second round this order was reversed, so the team with the 6th pick would also receive the 7th pick, whilst the team with first overall pick would not pick again until the 12th pick (last pick in the second round). The order would continue alternating in each subsequent round, producing a 'snaking' order. Draft picks were not allowed to be traded.
The final draft order was: Minnesota Toronto Boston New York Ottawa Montreal
Selections by round Picks from the 2023 Draft are listed below by round.
Round one # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 1 Taylor Heise (F) PWHL Minnesota Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA) 2 Jocelyne Larocque (D) PWHL Toronto Team Adidas (PWHPA) 3 Alina Muller (C) PWHL Boston Northeastern Huskies (Hockey East) 4 Ella Shelton (D) PWHL New York Team Scotiabank (PWHPA) 5 Savannah Harmon (D) PWHL Ottawa Team Harvey's (PWHPA) 6 Erin Ambrose (D) PWHL Montreal Team Sonnet (PWHPA)
Round two # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 7 Kristin O'Neill (F) Montreal Team Adidas (PWHPA) 8 Ashton Bell (D) Ottawa Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA) 9 Jaime Bourbonnais (D) New York Team Scotiabank (PWHPA) 10 Sophie Jaques (D) Boston Ohio State Buckeyes (WCHA) 11 Emma Maltais (F) Toronto Ohio State Buckeyes (WCHA) 12 Nicole Hensley (G) Minnesota Team Sonnet (PWHPA)
Round three # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 13 Grace Zumwinkle (F) Minnesota Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA) 14 Kristen Campbell (G) Toronto Team Scotiabank (PWHPA) 15 Jamie Lee Rattray (F) Boston Team Harvey's (PWHPA) 16 Jessie Eldridge (F) New York Team Harvey's (PWHPA) 17 Jincy Roese (D) Ottawa Team Adidas (PWHPA) 18 Maureen Murphy (F) Montreal Northeastern Huskies (Hockey East)
Round four # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 19 Dominika Lásková (D) Montreal Toronto Six (PHF) 20 Gabbie Hughes (F) Ottawa Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA) 21 Chloé Aurard (LW) New York Northeastern Huskies (Hockey East) 22 Loren Gabel (F) Boston Boston Pride (PHF) 23 Natalie Spooner (F) Toronto Team Scotiabank (PWHPA) 24 Maggie Flaherty (D) Minnesota Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA)
Round five # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 25 Susanna Tapani (C) Minnesota Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays (ZhHL; 2021–22) 26 Jesse Compher (F) Toronto Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA) 27 Hannah Brandt (C) Boston Team Sonnet (PWHPA) 28 Elizabeth Giguere (RW) New York Boston Pride (PHF) 29 Hayley Scamurra (F) Ottawa Team Harvey's (PWHPA) 30 Kati Tabin (D) Montreal Toronto Six (PHF)
Round six # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 31 Kennedy Marchment (RW) Montreal Connecticut Whale (PHF) 32 Daryl Watts (C) Ottawa Toronto Six (PHF) 33 Corinne Schroeder (G) New York Boston Pride (PHF) 34 Jessica DiGirolamo (D) Boston Team Adidas (PWHPA) 35 Kali Flanagan (D) Toronto Boston Pride (PHF) 36 Clair DeGeorge (F) Minnesota Team Harvey's (PWHPA)
Round seven # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 37 Natalie Buchbinder (D) Minnesota Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA) 38 Victoria Bach (F) Toronto Team Scotiabank (PWHPA) 39 Theresa Schafzahl (F) Boston Vermont Catamounts (Hockey East) 40 Jill Saulnier (F) New York Team Adidas (PWHPA) 41 Aneta Tejralová (D) Ottawa Boston Pride (PHF) 42 Tereza Vanišová (F) Montreal Toronto Six (PHF)
Round eight # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 43 Madison Bizal (D) Montreal Ohio State Buckeyes (WCHA) 44 Kateřina Mrázová (C) Ottawa Connecticut Whale (PHF) 45 Brooke Hobson (D) New York Modo Hockey Dam (SDHL) 46 Emily Brown (D) Boston Team Sonnet (PWHPA) 47 Brittany Howard (F) Toronto Toronto Six (PHF) 48 Denisa Křížová (F) Minnesota Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF)
Round nine # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 49 Sidney Morin (D) Minnesota Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF) 50 Allie Munroe (D) Toronto Connecticut Whale (PHF) 51 Taylor Girard (F) Boston Connecticut Whale (PHF) 52 Jade Downie-Landry (F) New York Montreal Force (PHF) 53 Zoe Boyd (D) Ottawa Quinnipiac Bobcats (ECAC) 54 Gabrielle David (C) Montreal Clarkson Golden Knights (ECAC)
Round ten # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 55 Maude Poulin-Labelle (D) Montreal Northeastern Huskies (Hockey East) 56 Kristin Della Rovere (C) Ottawa Harvard Crimson (ECAC) 57 Paetyn Levis (F) New York Ohio State Buckeyes (WCHA) 58 Emma Söderberg (G) Boston Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA) 59 Mellissa Channell (D) Toronto Team Harvey's (PWHPA) 60 Sophia Kunin (F) Minnesota Team Harvey's (PWHPA)
Round eleven # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 61 Amanda Leveille (G) Minnesota Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF) 62 Maggie Connors (F) Toronto Princeton Tigers (ECAC) 63 Sophie Shirley (F) Boston Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA) 64 Abbey Levy (G) New York Boston College Eagles (Hockey East) 65 Lexie Adzija (F) Ottawa Quinnipiac Bobcats (ECAC) 66 Jillian Dempsey (F) Montreal Boston Pride (PHF)
Round twelve # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 67 Claire Dalton (C/RW) Montreal Yale Bulldogs (ECAC) 68 Sandra Abstreiter (G) Ottawa Providence Friars (Hockey East) 69 Olivia Zafuto (D) New York Boston Pride (PHF) 70 Shiann Darkangelo (LW) Boston Toronto Six (PHF) 71 Rebecca Leslie (F) Toronto Team Sonnet (PWHPA) 72 Michela Cava (C) Minnesota Toronto Six (PHF)
Round thirteen # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 73 Liz Schepers (C/LW) Minnesota Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF) 74 Hannah Miller (F) / Toronto Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star (ZhHL) 75 Emma Buckles (D) Boston Team Sonnet (PWHPA) 76 Kayla Vespa (F) New York Team Adidas (PWHPA) 77 Amanda Boulier (D) Ottawa Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF) 78 Elaine Chuli (G) Montreal Toronto Six (PHF)
Round fourteen # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 79 Ann-Sophie Bettez (F) Montreal Montreal Force (PHF) 80 Caitrin Lonergan (F) Ottawa Connecticut Whale (PHF) 81 Emma Woods (F) New York Toronto Six (PHF) 82 Tatum Skaggs (F) Boston Team Scotiabank (PWHPA) 83 Alexa Vasko (F) Toronto Team Sonnet (PWHPA) 84 Minttu Tuominen (D) Minnesota Kiekko-Espoo Naiset (NSML)
Round fifteen # Player Nationality PWHL team College/university/club team 85 Sydney Brodt (F) Minnesota Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF) 86 Olivia Knowles (D) Toronto Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF) 87 Jess Healey (D) Boston Buffalo Beauts (PHF) 88 Alexandra Labelle (F) New York Montreal Force (PHF) 89 Audrey-Ann Veillette (F) Ottawa Montreal Carabins (RSEQ) 90 Lina Ljungblom (C) Montreal Modo Hockey Dam (SDHL)
Draftees based on nationality Rank Country Selections Percent Top selection North America 77 85.6% 1 49 54.4% Jocelyne Larocque, 2nd 2 28 31.1% Taylor Heise, 1st Europe 13 14.4% 3 5 5.6% Dominika Lásková, 19th 4 2 2.2% Susanna Tapani, 25th 2 2.2% Emma Söderberg, 50th 6 1 1.1% Alina Müller, 3rd 1 1.1% Chloé Aurard, 21st 1 1.1% Theresa Schafzahl, 39th 1 1.1% Sandra Abstreiter, 68th
North American draftees by state/province Rank State/province Selections Percent Top selection 1 27 30.0% Ella Shelton, 4th 2 11 12.2% Taylor Heise, 1st 3 8 8.9% Élizabeth Giguère, 28th 4 5 5.6% Jocelyne Larocque, 2nd 5 5.6% Maureen Murphy, 18th 6 3 3.3% Kali Flanagan, 35th 7 2 2.2% Savannah Harmon, 5th 2 2.2% Jill Saulnier, 40th 2 2.2% Brooke Hobson, 45th 2 2.2% Taylor Girard, 51st 2 2.2% Hannah Miller, 74th 12 1 1.1% Nicole Hensley, 12th 1 1.1% Jincy Dunne, 17th 1 1.1% Clair DeGeorge, 36th 1 1.1% Maggie Connors, 62nd 1 1.1% Amanda Boulier, 77th 1 1.1% Tatum Skaggs, 82nd 1 1.1% Jessica Healey, 87th
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