Your essential guide to the first-year forwards you need on your roster
The 2026 PWHL Draft delivered the deepest and most talented forward class in the league’s short history, and the fantasy implications are significant. Five players in particular stand out as immediate-impact rookies who should be on every manager’s radar from the moment the puck drops in November. Here is your definitive ranking of the top five fantasy rookie forwards heading into the 2026–27 season.
#1 — Abbey Murphy | F | Seattle Torrent | Drafted 2nd Overall
Let’s not waste any time — Abbey Murphy is the most exciting fantasy rookie forward in the PWHL this season and it is not particularly close.
Murphy left the University of Minnesota as the program’s all-time leading goal scorer with 143 goals across five seasons, finishing her career second all-time in points with 261. Her final year as a graduate student was her best yet — 40 goals and 66 points in just 31 games, leading the entire nation in both points per game and goals per game. She is a two-time Olympian and 2026 Milan gold medalist, and she plays the game with a feistiness and physical edge that translates immediately to the professional level.
The fantasy angle that separates Murphy from everyone else in this class: she is joining a Seattle roster that already includes Alex Carpenter, her Olympic teammate, and both players have publicly expressed a desire to play together. Carpenter is one of the PWHL’s elite playmakers. Murphy is a natural, relentless finisher. That potential pairing is a fantasy goldmine. Draft her first. Do not overthink it.
#2 — Kirsten Simms | F | Toronto Sceptres | Drafted 8th Overall
When Kirsten Simms slid to eighth overall, Toronto GM Gina Kingsbury admitted her team was surprised — and wasted no time capitalizing. For fantasy managers, the word “steal” does not begin to cover it.
Simms left Wisconsin as a three-time national champion and one of the most accomplished offensive players in program history, finishing with 238 points in 152 games — a staggering 1.57 points-per-game pace that ranks fourth in Badgers history behind only Daryl Watts, Brianna Decker, and Hilary Knight. She posted career highs of 26 goals and 59 points in 31 games this season, and her big-game credentials are the stuff of legend — she took an unsolicited penalty shot with 18.9 seconds left in the 2025 NCAA championship game, converted it to tie the game, then scored the overtime winner to seal the national title.
Toronto desperately needed offensive firepower after losing key players to expansion, and Kingsbury has said Simms brings “just natural instincts offensively that very few athletes have.” She is a power play weapon, a shootout ace, and an immediate top-six performer. The Sceptres are built around her now. Fantasy managers should be too.
#3 — Tessa Janecke | C | PWHL Las Vegas | Drafted 3rd Overall
Tessa Janecke made history on draft night as the first-ever pick in PWHL Las Vegas history, and she arrives in the desert as the most complete two-way centre in the entire 2026 draft class.
Janecke closed her Penn State career as the program’s all-time leader in goals (89), assists (112), and points (201) — having posted four consecutive seasons of 45 or more points, which is a level of sustained production that scouts around the league consistently cite as pro-readiness. She won the Atlantic Hockey America Player of the Year award three straight times. She registered five assists in seven Olympic games as part of Team USA’s gold medal run in Milan. She is 22 years old and already plays with the maturity and compete level of a seasoned professional.
The Vegas fantasy case is compelling. Las Vegas built one of the deepest forward groups of any expansion team in PWHL history and will give Janecke top-line centre ice time from day one. The Hockey News called her a legitimate number-one centre in this league. In fantasy terms, that means faceoff wins, power play time, and consistent point production from the most important position on the ice. She is a must-roster centre.
#4 — Lacey Eden | F | PWHL Las Vegas | Drafted 5th Overall
Las Vegas made the boldest statement of draft night by taking two of the top five picks, and while Janecke gets the headlines, Lacey Eden may be just as impactful over the course of the season.
Eden is the only player in University of Wisconsin history to win four national championships, and she did it while being one of the most productive forwards in the program’s storied history — finishing with 245 points across 178 career games, ranking in Wisconsin’s top five in points. Her 2025–26 season as a graduate student was her finest: 29 goals and 48 assists for a jaw-dropping 77 points in 41 games, leading the entire nation in scoring. That is not a coincidence. That is the best scorer in the country, and she is now on the same roster as Tessa Janecke.
The Hockey News graded Las Vegas’s draft class as the clear winner of the entire draft, specifically calling Janecke and Eden “a first or second line in this league.” In fantasy, having the two best players on the same roster means opportunity, ice time, and power play minutes for both. Eden is a top-five fantasy forward in this rookie class without question. Do not sleep on her because she was picked two spots after Janecke.
#5 — Petra Nieminen | F | Montréal Victoire | Drafted 12th Overall
The final name on this list is the most unique — and in some ways, the most intriguing.
Petra Nieminen is not a typical draft pick. She is 27 years old, a three-time Olympian representing Finland, and one of the most decorated players in the history of the Swedish Women’s Hockey League. In eight seasons with Luleå HF, she amassed 369 points in 264 regular-season games and won four SDHL championships. She was named the SDHL’s Forward of the Year in 2025–26 after posting 45 points — 24 goals and 21 assists — in just 27 games. She has been posting at least 45 points every season since 2019–20. She is not a project. She is a proven professional scorer who waited for the right moment to make her move to the PWHL.
And the right moment, it turns out, is arriving in Montréal to defend a Walter Cup championship. Nieminen joins a Victoire roster built around Marie-Philip Poulin and Ann-Renée Desbiens, meaning she steps into a top-six role on the best team in the league. Montréal needed centre depth after losing pieces to expansion, and Nieminen fills that void immediately. She is a powerful skater, an elite finisher, and has the silky hands and hockey sense to thrive at this level from puck drop.
Of the five players on this list, she carries the most adjustment uncertainty — the PWHL game is faster and more physical than the SDHL. But she is also the most experienced, the most decorated, and stepping into the best possible situation a rookie forward could ask for. The floor is high and the ceiling is higher.
The Bottom Line
The 2026 PWHL rookie forward class is historically deep and historically talented. Murphy leads the group in terms of pure fantasy ceiling. Simms is the steal of the draft. Janecke and Eden give Las Vegas a top-line tandem that no other expansion team in PWHL history has had. And Nieminen on a Walter Cup championship roster is a fantasy asset hiding in plain sight.
Roster all five if you can. You will thank yourself in March.
Draft information and statistics sourced from the PWHL official records, The Hockey News, Daily Faceoff, The IX Hockey, and OurSports Central, June 2026.