Tessa Janecke is selected third overall by Las Vegas; Penn State well-represented in the PWHL draft

Tessa Janecke has had no shortage of big moments this year, from winning gold with the United States women’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics in Milan to playing in the Frozen Four on home ice in State College.

On Tuesday night she added another, as Las Vegas of the Professional Women’s Hockey League selected Janecke with the third overall pick of the PWHL draft.

The new team in Las Vegas was the fourth team to be announced as part of the league’s second round of expansion for the 2026-27 season, its fourth. which takes the league from eight teams to 12. Detroit; Hamilton, Ontario; and San Jose, Calif., are the other three.

The Vancouver Goldeneyes picked Wisconsin star Caroline Harvey first overall. Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy went second to the Seattle Torrent, and Wisconsin’s Laila Edwards (San Jose) and Lacey Eden (Las Vegas) rounded out the top five.

» READ MORE: Ava Rinker played on the Junior Flyers girls’ hockey team. Now, she’s headed to the PWHL.

After helping lead Penn State to its first women’s Frozen Four appearance, Janecke says she knows what it’s like to help build a program and is prepared to do the same in Vegas.

“Me and my class have kind of built that place into what it is today, and hopefully into what it continues to be, and I’m really excited to be able to do that with Las Vegas as well,” Janecke said.

Janecke added: “It takes so much hard work and adversity, even if you’re not winning games, to still make those around you feel like they belong and feel that sense of community in the team.”

As Penn State’s leading goal scorer last season with 26 goals, the 5-foot-8 forward also led the team in points (48) and finished with 201 career points, the most ever for a Penn State hockey player.

She also became the first Penn State athlete to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics and had five assists in the United States’ seven games in Milan.

Janecke also played for Team USA in the 2025 IIHF World Championships, where she scored the golden goal.

The Orangeville, Ill., native was named to the Atlantic Hockey America conference first team four times and won three straight AHA player and forward of the year awards, making her the second woman in the conference to achieve that feat. She also became the first Penn State women’s player to be a top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the top women’s college player. She was a top-10 finalist the previous two seasons.

» READ MORE: As her Penn State hockey career ends, Tessa Janecke believes she’s helped build the newest blue blood

Janecke said she plans to carry her experience from Penn State to the next level.

“I think there’s an edge to Penn State that people don’t always realize,” Janecke said. “They kind of fly under the radar. Maybe that’s a good thing and a bad thing, but I think I’m going to take that 200-foot play that I’ve developed at Penn State and bring that to Las Vegas.”

Wynnewood’s Grace Dwyer, a Harriton High School graduate, also was drafted in the first round, 10th overall to the Boston Fleet.

The blueliner had 76 points (18 goals, 58 assists) during her four-year career at Cornell and was first-team All-Ivy last season. She also previously played for the Philadelphia Junior Flyers, along with Penn State’s Leah Stecker, who went 27th overall to Boston in the third round.

Stecker, one of seven Nittany Lions to be drafted — the most from any one college — was a four-year contributor and played in all of Penn State’s games over the last three seasons.

The Randolph, N.J., native finished her career with 57 points (12 goals, 45 assists), but was most productive in the defensive zone, with 83 career blocks.

Maddy Christian, an Elk River, Minn., native, also was drafted in the third round to her hometown team, the Minnesota Frost. She had 84 points (46 goals, 38 assists) and 86 blocks in four seasons at Penn State.

Goalie Katie DeSa was drafted with the first pick of the fourth round by the Goldeneyes after finishing her career with the most shutouts in program history (25). She also was AHA Goaltender of the Year in back-to-back seasons and had a career .932 save percentage.

» READ MORE: Penn State’s Frozen Four run ‘put the program on the map’

Forward Katelyn Roberts was taken 43rd overall in the fourth round by the New York Sirens. She scored a career-best 16 goals as a senior and set a program record for most single-season game-winning goals (seven), which was tied for the second-most nationally. She is one of six players in program history to record at least 100 career points.

In the fifth round, Kendall Butze joined Janecke with Las Vegas. Butze was named the AHA’s best defensemen in back-to-back seasons and is Penn State’s all-time leader in points by a defenseman (94).

Hamilton, one of the other expansion teams, nabbed Mya Vaslet in the sixth round (66th overall). Vaslet, who’s from Sittsville, Ontario, finished with 60 points (30 goals, 30 assists) in 149 games with the Nittany Lions.