Caroline Harvey finds balance between life and hockey while being projected No. 1 pick in PWHL draft

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“I am grateful for it now looking back, and as much as it sucked,” she said. “It did teach me a lot about myself that I didn’t know before. And it helped me mature a lot.”

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At 23, Harvey already is one of the most accomplished players in women’s hockey. She is coming off a senior season in which she won a third NCAA title and was named college hockey’s MVP. Internationally, she was the Olympic tournament’s MVP while winning gold representing the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Games in February.

Top prospect in deep PWHL draft class

Next up is turning pro. Harvey leads what’s regarded as the PWHL’s most talented prospect class and is projected to go first in the draft in Detroit on Wednesday.

Vancouver holds the No. 1 pick, followed by Seattle. The four expansion teams were slotted pick Nos. 3-6.

Las Vegas has two first-round selections following a sign-and-trade deal sending Hilary Knight to Detroit. Las Vegas landed Detroit’s pick at No. 3 and has been awarded the No. 5 selection. The deal will be official once the PWHL’s trade deadline lifts Tuesday.

The bumper crop of prospects features five U.S. Olympic teammates, including Wisconsin’s Laila Edwards and Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy, plus several European Olympians.

There’s no doubt in U.S. coach John Wroblewski’s mind about who deserves to go first.

“The accolades that she’s racked up before she’s even graduated college is unprecedented,” he said. “It’s a no-brainer.”

Harvey is a strong and gifted skater who is rarely out of position defensively and a deft playmaker. With two goals and seven assists in seven games, she had nine points at the Olympics to tie for the tournament lead. And she completed her college career with 54 goals and 201 points in 147 games, including consecutive 60-point seasons.

“She is the most beautiful, fastest skater I’ve ever seen,” said U.S. teammate and PWHL veteran Hayley Scamurra, who also believes Harvey will be chosen first. “Just unbelievable. She’s such a great player, and I cannot wait to see her in the pro league.”

Harvey is from Pelham, New Hampshire, and got into hockey as a youngster after attending her older brother’s practices. Her father would rent out rink time and the two would make the half-hour drive to North Andover, Massachusetts, for individual sessions. By high school, Harvey moved to Rochester, New York, to attend the BK Selects hockey academy.

Harvey delayed her first college season to make her Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games.

The U.S. settled for silver in a tournament that proved to be a disappointment for Harvey. She was held without a point and benched for a majority of the knockout rounds after losing the faith of former coach Joel Johannson.

In replacing Johannson, Wroblewski identified Harvey’s abilities and immediately began building her confidence by encouraging her to play without fear.

Gaining confidence under Wroblewski

In the four years since, Wroblewski has watched a once shy and soft-spoken Harvey grow into an assertive player and person.

“I think we’re just getting a glimpse of what that looks like in her maturation process,” he said.

“It just so happens that this young woman is supremely gifted with athleticism and electricity and everything that goes into being a superstar hockey player. And it all meets up with the fact that she loves what she’s doing and destined to be here,” Wroblewski added. “It’s a rare quality that you find in superstar athletes. And (she’s) got the je ne sais quoi.”

Harvey has become more comfortable talking about herself, even though she declines to guess when she’ll be drafted.

“They can’t honestly go wrong with who they pick because this draft class is just so deep,” she said. “And I’m just going to be grateful that night if I hear my name called.”

It’s not a matter of if.

Harvey can reflect on the long hours she’s put in on the ice, in weight rooms and playing far away from home to appreciate what she has so far accomplished.

“It’s being satisfied in a sense of like, yes, you can look back at the accomplishments, but you just always want more,” Harvey said, no different from how she’s approached perfecting her game. “Part of it’s I don’t want to look back and be like, ‘Oh, I could have done better.’ I don’t want to ever underachieve.”

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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

John Wawrow, The Associated Press