Four Saskatchewan-born prospects taken in record-breaking 2026 PWHL Draft

It was a historic day for women’s hockey in Saskatchewan on Wednesday, as a record four players were selected by Professional Women’s Hockey League teams at the 2026 PWHL Draft.

Three women from the province were selected in the fifth round of the draft with another taken in the sixth round, a run of four Saskatchewan athletes in nine picks.

Balgonie’s Alexis Petford was the highest drafted Saskatchewan-born player on Wednesday, with the PWHL’s expansion franchise from Las Vegas using the 53rd overall pick on the forward.

Petford, 22, is coming off her fourth season of NCAA hockey and her second at Colgate University, where she finished second in team scoring with 18 goals and 33 points in 36 games.

A transfer from Stonehill College in 2024, Petford was a four-year star for the Regina U18 AAA Rebels with a career-best season in 2021-22 where she exploded for 76 points in 29 games.

“Honestly, I would have been excited to go anywhere,” Petford said on the PWHL Draft broadcast.

“I think Vegas taking a chance on me is something I’m not going to regret and I hope they don’t either.”

Six picks later, another Regina Rebels graduate was taken off the board with the Ottawa Charge selecting Neena Brick at 59th overall.

A former teammate of Petford’s both with the Rebels and at Colgate, Brick, 22, played four seasons with the Raiders and scored 40 points in 40 games in her last season of NCAA hockey.

The Regina-born forward went overseas this past season for her first year of professional hockey with MoDo in Sweden, where she recorded 11 goals and 19 points in 35 games as a rookie in the SDHL.

The Walter Cup-champion Montreal Victoire closed out the fifth round with another Saskatchewan selection, this time on defence with the 60th overall pick being used on Regina’s Erica Rieder.

Rieder, 29, has spent her last five seasons playing professionally in Sweden, most recently with Lulea HF where she potted seven goals and 20 points in 34 games.

A graduate of the Rebels program in 2013-14, Rieder played five years at the U Sports level with the University of Manitoba Bisons and captained the team as a senior in 2018-19.

The Vancouver Goldeneyes closed out a run of three-straight Saskatchewan players with the opening pick of the sixth round at 61st overall, as they added defender Ashley Messier.

Messier, 24, calls Wilcox home and played her U18 AAA hockey with the Saskatoon Stars where she ended her minor hockey career in 2018-19 as the team’s alternate captain.

“Probably the best feeling I’ve had so far,” Messier said.

A cousin of Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Mark Messier and a silver medallist at the Women’s U18 World Championship, Ashley wrapped up her fifth and final season of NCAA hockey at the University of Minnesota-Duluth following four years at Cornell University.

Messier was named second-team all-ECAC in 2024-25 at Cornell and is coming off a senior year at Minnesota-Duluth where she recorded seven assists in 36 games played.

“I’m a 200-foot defenceman,” Messier said. “I’m reliable in the (defensive) zone, but I like to bring the offence as well. I have a good work ethic, so I’m ready to bring that (to Vancouver).”

The quartet of newly-drafted prospects join four players currently in the PWHL in Emily Clark with Hamilton’s expansion franchise, Brooke Hobson in Ottawa, Sophie Shirley with the Boston Fleet and Montreal’s Kaitlin Willoughby, who last month became the first Saskatchewan woman to win the Walter Cup.

Vancouver selected Olympic tournament MVP and IIHF Female Player of the Year in 2026 Caroline ‘KK’ Harvey with the first overall pick.

That kicked off a run of American gold medallists from Milan with Abbey Murphy (Seattle), Tessa Janecke (Las Vegas) and Laila Edwards (San Jose) being selected with the next three picks.