It’s not often a team drafts a player with the same upside and skill set as one it’s about to lose, before it knows that player is leaving. That’s what happened to the Vancouver Goldeneyes this off-season. On June 17, they took New Hampshire-born defender KK Harvey 1st overall in the 2026 PWHL Draft. Then on Oct. 1, with the team gearing up for a new season, Claire Thompson, a stalwart on Vancouver’s blue line in 2025-26, announced her retirement to finish her medical degree.
Losing Thompson hurts, but the excitement around Harvey and her raw talent is hard to ignore. It’ll also push the rookie into a bigger role than she probably expected when she was drafted in the summer.
- Number: 4
- Position: Defence (shoots left)
- Hometown: Salem, N.H.
- Born: Oct. 14, 2002
- How she got here: Drafted 1st overall by Vancouver on June 17, 2026
- Contract: Signed Sept. 29, 2026, for 3 years
The 1st defender taken 1st
Harvey is the 1st defender ever drafted 1st overall in the PWHL, in the league’s 4th draft. It was no surprise she went at the top. The question was which team would get her.
Vancouver missed the playoffs last season, but there was still something to play for down the stretch. Under the PWHL’s Gold Plan, once a team is mathematically eliminated, the standings points it earns in its remaining games count as Gold Plan points, and the eliminated team with the most of them picks 1st. It keeps teams from tanking for a better pick, the way they can under the lottery systems the NHL and other major leagues use. Vancouver finished level with Seattle on 5 Gold Plan points and won the tiebreaker with more regulation wins after elimination.
The résumé
Harvey has an impressive résumé for a player who’s yet to play a professional game. In 4 seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers, she had 54 goals and 147 assists for 201 points in 147 games. She was Wisconsin’s captain last season and had 64 points in 33 games to cap her college career and put herself at the top of the prospect list for June’s draft.
Her accolades leave little doubt she could be the face of the women’s game within the next 5 years. She won 3 national championships with Wisconsin, in 2023, 2025 and 2026, and the 2026 Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in women’s college hockey.
She’s also played for the United States at 5 World Championships, winning silver 3 times and gold twice, and she was named the tournament’s best defender at both gold-medal Worlds, in 2023 and 2025. She won silver at the 2022 Olympics after a tight gold-medal game against Canada, and she was a key part of the U.S. team that won gold at the 2026 Olympics in Milano Cortina, with 2 goals and 7 assists.
With Harvey signed for 3 seasons on Sept. 29, the focus turns to how she’ll lift the Goldeneyes on the ice.
Defence first
The 1st area is defence. Vancouver allowed the 3rd-most goals in the league last season, 81. Emerance Maschmeyer and Kristen Campbell are both back in goal, so the focus turns to a new-look group in front of them that includes Harvey.
She has the speed to get past rushing wingers and a rare mix of skills: she can make a good 1st pass and still jump into the rush. The expectation is that she’ll play with Sophie Jacques, and both will need to learn when to jump in and when to stay back, especially with newer faces around them.
More offence
But the biggest thing Harvey adds is offence, another exciting layer on a potential pairing with Jacques. Jacques was 2nd among PWHL defenders in scoring last season, with 20 points, and led all defenders with 110 shots. If Harvey and Jacques can give Vancouver’s forwards extended shifts in the offensive zone, or support off the rush on what should be a good rush team, expect the Goldeneyes to improve on the 68 goals they scored last season. More shots would help too. Vancouver had only 793 last season, 26.4 a game, and shots turn into goals.
The power play
The last and most important piece is the power play, which ranked last in the PWHL in 2025-26 at 10.7%. Vancouver also drew only 75 power plays, 2nd-fewest in the league, and Harvey’s speed and shiftiness should help draw more. Vancouver doesn’t lack strong special-teams players, but Harvey can quarterback the unit and drive play, getting the puck to the net more often and creating more 2nd chances.
Year 2
There’s a lot to be excited about with the new rookie defender and her Goldeneyes, though there may be an adjustment period as she gets used to the pro game. But it’s safe to say the season opener on Dec. 5 at the Coliseum against Seattle will have a lot of eyes on Vancouver’s No. 4 as the team looks to make its 2nd season a successful one.
