Caroline Harvey balances life as she nears No. 1

Caroline Harvey’s left knee injury sidelined her early in Wisconsin sophomore season, pushing her toward yoga, breathing exercises, cooking, and quiet focus. Now 23, she’s entering the PWHL draft in Detroit projected to be the No. 1 pick by Vancouver, after a

Caroline Harvey still remembers the moment the hockey obsession loosened—quietly, not dramatically. It happened when her left knee injury knocked her out early in her sophomore season at Wisconsin, derailing the rhythm she’d built her life around.

Rehabbing an injured medial patellofemoral ligament, the realization came in flashes. “It taught me how to have more balance,” Harvey said of the time she missed rehabbing in the fall of 2023.

Instead of staying stuck in her usual routine of watching film and picking apart performances. Harvey learned to turn off her phone. She got into yoga, started doing breathing exercises, took up cooking and even thrifting. From the stands. she also watched games differently—using the perspective to find her voice with teammates during and after matches.

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

That maturity is arriving right as Harvey’s hockey résumé is already packed with milestones. At 23. she is coming off a senior season in which she won a third NCAA title and was named college hockey’s MVP. Internationally, she earned Olympic tournament MVP honors while winning gold representing the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Games in February.

Harvey is now the centerpiece of what’s widely described as the PWHL’s most talented prospect class. She leads the group projected to go first in the PWHL draft in Detroit on Wednesday, with Vancouver holding the No. 1 pick.

The draft class is deep, and it has the kind of recognition that doesn’t come around often: five U.S. Olympic teammates are included, among them Wisconsin’s Laila Edwards and Minnesota forward Abbey Murphy, alongside several European Olympians.

U.S. coach John Wroblewski didn’t mince words about what he believes comes next.

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

Harvey’s hockey profile helps make that feeling hard to shake. She’s described as a strong and gifted skater who is rarely out of position defensively and a deft playmaker. At the Olympics. she totaled nine points to tie for the tournament lead. backed by two goals and seven assists in seven games. Over her college career, she finished with 54 goals and 201 points in 147 games, including consecutive 60-point seasons.

U.S. teammate and PWHL veteran Hayley Scamurra believes the pro league should expect something special from day one. “She is the most beautiful, fastest skater I’ve ever seen,” Scamurra said. “Just unbelievable. She’s such a great player, and I cannot wait to see her in the pro league.”

Harvey’s path to this moment started far from draft-room headlines. She is from Pelham. New Hampshire. and she got into hockey as a youngster after attending her older brother’s practices. Her father would rent out rink time and they 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.

Her career also took a deliberate turn for the chance to compete at the Olympics. Harvey delayed her first college season to make her Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games. The U.S. settled for silver at that tournament. which was 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.

Four years later, Wroblewski has watched her grow in both the game and in herself. “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 as she avoids guessing when her name will be called. “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.”

But the feeling in the hockey world is that the question isn’t whether Harvey goes first—it’s how quickly the rest of the league recognizes what Vancouver is getting.

For Harvey, the work still keeps moving. She can look back at the hours on ice, in weight rooms, and the time spent playing far away from home. Yet she’s careful about how she frames success.

“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. “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.”

Caroline Harvey PWHL draft Vancouver Detroit women’s hockey Wisconsin left knee injury medial patellofemoral ligament NCAA title college hockey MVP Milan Cortina Games Olympic tournament MVP Hayley Scamurra John Wroblewski Laila Edwards Abbey Murphy