2023 PWHL Draft

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.^[1]

2023 PWHL Draft
General information
Date(s)	September 18, 2023
Location	CBC's Toronto Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Network(s)	CBC Gem CBC Sports App
Overview
90 total selections in 15 rounds
League	Professional Women's Hockey League
First selection	Taylor Heise (PWHL Minnesota)
2024 →

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.^[2]

Top NCAA/U Sports prospects

Source: The Hockey News ranking (September 5, 2023).^[3]

Ranking	Player	School
1	Taylor Heise (F)	Minnesota Golden Gophers
2	Alina Muller (F)	Northeastern Huskies
3	Sophie Jaques (D)	Ohio State Buckeyes
4	Emma Maltais (F)	Ohio State Buckeyes
5	Emma Soderberg (G)	Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
6	Grace Zumwinkle (F)	Minnesota Golden Gophers
7	Chloe 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 6 team's general managers.^[4] 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.^[5]

The final draft order was:

1. Minnesota
2. Toronto
3. Boston
4. New York
5. Ottawa
6. Montreal

Selections by round

Picks from the 2023 Draft are listed below by round.^[6]

Round one

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
1	Taylor Heise (F)	United States	PWHL Minnesota	Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA)
2	Jocelyne Larocque (D)	Canada	PWHL Toronto	Team Adidas (PWHPA)
3	Alina Muller (C)	Switzerland	PWHL Boston	Northeastern Huskies (Hockey East)
4	Ella Shelton (D)	Canada	PWHL New York	Team Scotiabank (PWHPA)
5	Savannah Harmon (D)	United States	PWHL Ottawa	Team Harvey's (PWHPA)
6	Erin Ambrose (D)	Canada	PWHL Montreal	Team Sonnet (PWHPA)

Round two

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
7	Kristin O'Neill (F)	Canada	Montreal	Team Adidas (PWHPA)
8	Ashton Bell (D)	Canada	Ottawa	Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA)
9	Jaime Bourbonnais (D)	Canada	New York	Team Scotiabank (PWHPA)
10	Sophie Jaques (D)	Canada	Boston	Ohio State Buckeyes (WCHA)
11	Emma Maltais (F)	Canada	Toronto	Ohio State Buckeyes (WCHA)
12	Nicole Hensley (G)	United States	Minnesota	Team Sonnet (PWHPA)

Round three

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
13	Grace Zumwinkle (F)	United States	Minnesota	Minnesota Golden Gophers (WCHA)
14	Kristen Campbell (G)	Canada	Toronto	Team Scotiabank (PWHPA)
15	Jamie Lee Rattray (F)	Canada	Boston	Team Harvey's (PWHPA)
16	Jessie Eldridge (F)	Canada	New York	Team Harvey's (PWHPA)
17	Jincy Roese (D)	United States	Ottawa	Team Adidas (PWHPA)
18	Maureen Murphy (F)	United States	Montreal	Northeastern Huskies (Hockey East)

Round four

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
19	Dominika Laskova (D)	Czech Republic	Montreal	Toronto Six (PHF)
20	Gabbie Hughes (F)	United States	Ottawa	Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA)
21	Chloe Aurard (LW)	France	New York	Northeastern Huskies (Hockey East)
22	Loren Gabel (F)	Canada	Boston	Boston Pride (PHF)
23	Natalie Spooner (F)	Canada	Toronto	Team Scotiabank (PWHPA)
24	Maggie Flaherty (D)	United States	Minnesota	Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA)

Round five

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
25	Susanna Tapani (C)	Finland	Minnesota	Shenzhen KRS Vanke Rays (ZhHL; 2021–22)
26	Jesse Compher (F)	United States	Toronto	Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA)
27	Hannah Brandt (C)	United States	Boston	Team Sonnet (PWHPA)
28	Elizabeth Giguere (RW)	Canada	New York	Boston Pride (PHF)
29	Hayley Scamurra (F)	United States	Ottawa	Team Harvey's (PWHPA)
30	Kati Tabin (D)	Canada	Montreal	Toronto Six (PHF)

Round six

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
31	Kennedy Marchment (RW)	Canada	Montreal	Connecticut Whale (PHF)
32	Daryl Watts (C)	Canada	Ottawa	Toronto Six (PHF)
33	Corinne Schroeder (G)	Canada	New York	Boston Pride (PHF)
34	Jessica Digirolamo (D)	Canada	Boston	Team Adidas (PWHPA)
35	Kali Flanagan (D)	United States	Toronto	Boston Pride (PHF)
36	Clair DeGeorge (F)	United States	Minnesota	Team Harvey's (PWHPA)

Round seven

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
37	Natalie Buchbinder (D)	United States	Minnesota	Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA)
38	Victoria Bach (F)	Canada	Toronto	Team Scotiabank (PWHPA)
39	Theresa Schafzahl (F)	Austria	Boston	Vermont Catamounts (Hockey East)
40	Jill Saulnier (F)	Canada	New York	Team Adidas (PWHPA)
41	Aneta Tejralova (D)	Czech Republic	Ottawa	Boston Pride (PHF)
42	Tereza Vanisova (F)	Czech Republic	Montreal	Toronto Six (PHF)

Round eight

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
43	Madison Bizal (D)	United States	Montreal	Ohio State Buckeyes (WCHA)
44	Katerina Mrazova (C)	Czech Republic	Ottawa	Connecticut Whale (PHF)
45	Brooke Hobson (D)	Canada	New York	Modo Hockey Dam (SDHL)
46	Emily Brown (D)	United States	Boston	Team Sonnet (PWHPA)
47	Brittany Howard (F)	Canada	Toronto	Toronto Six (PHF)
48	Denisa Krizova (F)	Czech Republic	Minnesota	Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF)

Round nine

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
49	Sidney Morin (D)	United States	Minnesota	Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF)
50	Allie Munroe (D)	Canada	Toronto	Connecticut Whale (PHF)
51	Taylor Girard (F)	United States	Boston	Connecticut Whale (PHF)
52	Jade Downie-Landry (F)	Canada	New York	Montreal Force (PHF)
53	Zoe Boyd (D)	Canada	Ottawa	Quinnipiac Bobcats (ECAC)
54	Gabrielle David (C)	Canada	Montreal	Clarkson Golden Knights (ECAC)

Round ten

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
55	Maude Poulin-Labelle (D)	Canada	Montreal	Northeastern Huskies (Hockey East)
56	Kristin Della Rovere (C)	Canada	Ottawa	Harvard Crimson (ECAC)
57	Paetyn Levis (F)	United States	New York	Ohio State Buckeyes (WCHA)
58	Emma Söderberg (G)	Sweden	Boston	Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (WCHA)
59	Mellissa Channell (D)	Canada	Toronto	Team Harvey's (PWHPA)
60	Sophia Kunin (F)	United States	Minnesota	Team Harvey's (PWHPA)

Round eleven

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
61	Amanda Leveille (G)	Canada	Minnesota	Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF)
62	Maggie Connors (F)	Canada	Toronto	Princeton Tigers (ECAC)
63	Sophie Shirley (F)	Canada	Boston	Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA)
64	Abbey Levy (G)	United States	New York	Boston College Eagles (Hockey East)
65	Lexie Adzija (F)	Canada	Ottawa	Quinnipiac Bobcats (ECAC)
66	Jillian Dempsey (F)	United States	Montreal	Boston Pride (PHF)

Round twelve

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
67	Claire Dalton (C/RW)	Canada	Montreal	Yale Bulldogs (ECAC)
68	Sandra Abstreiter (G)	Germany	Ottawa	Providence Friars (Hockey East)
69	Olivia Zafuto (D)	United States	New York	Boston Pride (PHF)
70	Shiann Darkangelo (LW)	United States	Boston	Toronto Six (PHF)
71	Rebecca Leslie (F)	Canada	Toronto	Team Sonnet (PWHPA)
72	Michela Cava (C)	Canada	Minnesota	Toronto Six (PHF)

Round thirteen

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
73	Liz Schepers (C/LW)	United States	Minnesota	Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF)
74	Hannah Miller (F)	Canada /  China	Toronto	Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star (ZhHL)
75	Emma Buckles (D)	Canada	Boston	Team Sonnet (PWHPA)
76	Kayla Vespa (F)	Canada	New York	Team Adidas (PWHPA)
77	Amanda Boulier (D)	United States	Ottawa	Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF)
78	Elaine Chuli (G)	Canada	Montreal	Toronto Six (PHF)

Round fourteen

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
79	Ann-Sophie Bettez (F)	Canada	Montreal	Montreal Force (PHF)
80	Caitrin Lonergan (F)	United States	Ottawa	Connecticut Whale (PHF)
81	Emma Woods (F)	Canada	New York	Toronto Six (PHF)
82	Tatum Skaggs (F)	United States	Boston	Team Scotiabank (PWHPA)
83	Alexa Vasko (F)	Canada	Toronto	Team Sonnet (PWHPA)
84	Minttu Tuominen (D)	Finland	Minnesota	Kiekko-Espoo Naiset (NSML)

Round fifteen

#	Player	Nationality	PWHL team	College/university/club team
85	Sydney Brodt (F)	United States	Minnesota	Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF)
86	Olivia Knowles (D)	Canada	Toronto	Minnesota Whitecaps (PHF)
87	Jessica Healey (D)	Canada	Boston	Buffalo Beauts (PHF)
88	Alexandra Labelle (F)	Canada	New York	Montreal Force (PHF)
89	Audrey-Ann Veillette (F)	Canada	Ottawa	Montreal Carabins (RSEQ)
90	Lina Ljungblom (C)	Sweden	Montreal	Modo Hockey Dam (SDHL)

Draftees based on nationality

Rank	Country	Selections	Percent	Top selection
North America		77	85.6%
1	Canada	49	54.4%	Jocelyne Larocque, 2nd
2	United States	28	31.1%	Taylor Heise, 1st
Europe		13	14.4%
3	Czechia	5	5.6%	Dominika Lásková, 19th
4	Finland	2	2.2%	Susanna Tapani, 25th
	Sweden	2	2.2%	Emma Söderberg, 50th
6	Switzerland	1	1.1%	Alina Müller, 3rd
	France	1	1.1%	Chloé Aurard, 21st
	Austria	1	1.1%	Theresa Schafzahl, 39th
	Germany	1	1.1%	Sandra Abstreiter, 68th

North American draftees by state/province

Rank	State/province	Selections	Percent	Top selection
1	Ontario	27	30.0%	Ella Shelton, 4th
2	Minnesota	11	12.2%	Taylor Heise, 1st
3	Quebec	8	8.9%	Élizabeth Giguère, 28th
4	Manitoba	5	5.6%	Jocelyne Larocque, 2nd
	New York	5	5.6%	Maureen Murphy, 18th
6	Massachusetts	3	3.3%	Kali Flanagan, 35th
7	Illinois	2	2.2%	Savannah Harmon, 5th
	Nova Scotia	2	2.2%	Jill Saulnier, 40th
	Saskatchewan	2	2.2%	Brooke Hobson, 45th
	Michigan	2	2.2%	Taylor Girard, 51st
	British Columbia	2	2.2%	Hannah Miller, 74th
12	Colorado	1	1.1%	Nicole Hensley, 12th
	Missouri	1	1.1%	Jincy Dunne, 17th
	Alaska	1	1.1%	Clair DeGeorge, 36th
	Newfoundland and Labrador	1	1.1%	Maggie Connors, 62nd
	Connecticut	1	1.1%	Amanda Boulier, 77th
	Wisconsin	1	1.1%	Tatum Skaggs, 82nd
	Alberta	1	1.1%	Jessica Healey, 87th