Vancouver Goldeneyes win No. 1 draft pick with unique PWHL rule that doesn't involve a draft lottery
At least one Vancouver-based professional hockey team will pick first overall at an upcoming draft this summer.
The NHL’s draft lottery is yet to come for the Canucks, but their PWHL counterpart, the Vancouver Goldeneyes, has already clinched the top pick. The Goldeneyes secured the pick by winning the PWHL’s ‘Gold Plan’ by accumulating the most points post-elimination among non-playoff teams.
This system does away with the traditional lottery system used by the NHL and encourages eliminated teams to win their remaining game rather than tank.
Vancouver secured the top pick by putting together one regulation win and another OT victory over their last two games of the season. Their fellow expansion sister franchise, the Seattle Torrent, will pick second in the upcoming draft after a win and two losses put them behind the Goldeneyes in the Gold Plan standings.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 🫡@PWHL__Vancouver has secured the NO. 1 PICK in the 2026 PWHL Draft! pic.twitter.com/z4LQSPAUTi
— PWHL (@thepwhlofficial) April 26, 2026
This is set to be an exciting draft class for the PWHL, and the Goldeneyes will have a trio of Americans coming off an Olympic gold medal win to choose from.
Caroline Harvey, Abbey Murphy, and Laila Edwards are expected to kick off the draft as the top-three ranked players. It does appear that Harvey is the consensus pick to go first overall, after lighting it up with the University of Wisconsin women’s team with 18 goals and 64 points in just 33 games as a defender.
Harvey also finished tied for first in scoring during the Olympics, picking up two goals and nine points in seven games en route to an NCAA championship.
She would certainly be a boost for a Goldeneyes squad coming off a disappointing inaugural season. Vancouver’s maiden voyage in the PWHL ended with just nine regulation wins in 30 games, finishing sixth out of eight in the league standings and missing the playoffs. Only the New York Sirens and Torrent posted worse records.
An exact date for this year’s PWHL Draft has yet to be determined.
The Canucks will have to await the NHL Draft Lottery on May 5 to see if they will join the Goldeneyes in selecting first overall. Vancouver’s odds sit at 25.5% at landing the top pick.