The PWHL Draft comes to Detroit's Fox Theatre on Wednesday. Here's what to know.

Hockeytown is hosting women's professional hockey's biggest night.

The 2026 PWHL Draft comes to the Fox Theatre on Wednesday, June 17, with selections starting at 5 p.m. ET. The league set its annual draft in Detroit, one of four cities expanding into the league for the 2026-27 season. Twelve teams will pick across six rounds, for 72 players total. The eligibility pool ran to 235 declarations, the largest the league has seen since its first draft in 2023.

If you are heading downtown early, the PWHL Draft Fan Zone on Columbia Street runs from 2 to 5 p.m. ET before the main event at the Fox. Limited tickets remain through Ticketmaster.

Detroit made its biggest move before a single pick was called. On June 16, once the league's roster freeze lifted, the team traded its first-round selection, third overall, to PWHL Las Vegas for forward Hilary Knight. General manager Manon Rheaume called Knight "one of the best and most accomplished players in women's hockey history." Knight, 36, holds five Olympic medals and is the all-time U.S. Olympic leader in goals and points. She joins Daryl Watts, Hannah Bilka, Cayla Barnes, Jesse Compher, and Britta Curl-Salemme, the five players Detroit signed during the league's expansion process, as the team's foundational group heading into year one.

That trade means Detroit will not select until the second round. Michigan fans still have a name to watch. Kirsten Simms, a 21-year-old forward from Plymouth who came up through the Little Caesars program before going to Wisconsin, ranks among the most productive players in the class. She won three national championships in Madison and Olympic gold with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan Cortina, where she scored in the U.S. opener against Canada.

The most anticipated pick of the night is Caroline Harvey, a defenseman who won the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award and a national title at Wisconsin. Harvey was named MVP and Best Defender at the 2026 Olympics, where she tied for the tournament scoring lead. Vancouver, which earned the top selection through the league's Gold Plan standings, holds the first overall pick.

For those watching from home, the first two rounds air on Scripps Sports platforms in the United States and TSN2 in Canada, with all rounds streaming on the PWHL's YouTube channel worldwide.

Detroit is one of four expansion franchises joining the league this season, alongside Hamilton, Las Vegas, and San Jose. Wednesday at the Fox is where the city's women's hockey story officially begins.