PWHL Las Vegas Signs Fifth-Overall Pick Lacey Eden, Four-Time NCAA Champion, to Two-Year Contract

LAS VEGAS — PWHL Las Vegas announced Monday that it has signed forward Lacey Eden — the fifth-overall pick in the 2026 PWHL Draft and the most decorated player in Wisconsin women’s hockey history — to a two-year Professional Women’s Hockey League Standard Player Agreement through the 2027-28 season. Eden, 24, becomes the 15th player signed by the expansion club, which plays its first-ever game in December.

01The announcement

The team made it official Monday: Eden, selected fifth overall on June 17, is under contract for the franchise’s first two seasons. She was one of eight players — six of them forwards — chosen by Las Vegas in the 2026 draft, according to the team’s announcement.

“We are incredibly excited to officially welcome Lacey to Las Vegas. She’s a player we felt strongly about from the beginning, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to draft her,” said general manager Dominique DiDia. “Her skill, hockey sense, and competitiveness immediately stood out to us, but just as importantly, she is a winner who brings the versatility, integrity, and the mindset we want to define our team.”

Eden joins a lineup that now has 15 players under contract, including fellow first-round pick Tessa Janecke — the third-overall selection, who signed a two-year deal in July, per the team’s announcement. Janecke came to Las Vegas via Detroit, which held the pick before the expansion draft maneuvering.

02Four rings, one program record

The Annapolis, Maryland, native made history at the University of Wisconsin: she is the only player in the Badgers program’s history to win four NCAA national championships. Her career numbers tell the story of how — 105 goals and 140 assists for 245 points across 178 games.

Her final collegiate season was her best. In 2025-26, Eden scored 29 goals with 48 assists for 77 points in 41 games — making her the NCAA’s leading scorer, per The Hockey News. That’s the player Las Vegas is getting: a point-per-game-plus forward who has won at every level she’s played.

“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity that lies ahead in Vegas,” Eden said in the team’s announcement. “I can’t wait to be a part of the local hockey community, and I am excited to help build a winning culture in this new organization.”

03The international résumé

Eden’s winning record isn’t just collegiate. She has represented the United States at five straight IIHF Women’s World Championships, earning two gold medals and three silver medals, and she also won a U-18 World Championship gold with Team USA, per The Hockey News. That’s five senior world championship rosters before her 25th birthday — the kind of international pedigree expansion teams dream of landing in a draft.

The league’s own announcement describes the 24-year-old as renowned for her versatility across all three zones, with skating ability that allows her to take control of the ice. For a brand-new franchise, that’s not just a scouting report — it’s a foundation piece.

04A roster taking shape

With Eden signed, Las Vegas now has 15 players under contract and will spend the next few weeks ironing out the roster before the preseason opens, per Daily Faceoff. The eight-player draft class from June — headlined by Eden and Janecke — is starting to look like the core of something, and the signings keep the momentum of a busy summer for the expansion front office. Eden will become a free agent in the spring of 2028 — the same time as Janecke, whose deal runs on the identical timeline, per Daily Faceoff — which means Las Vegas has its two highest draft picks locked in together for the franchise’s first two seasons.

That two-season runway matters for an expansion team. Las Vegas is one of the PWHL’s four new expansion teams, per Daily Faceoff, and building a roster from scratch means every early signing sets the culture. The front office’s message has been consistent since June: draft the best available talent, sign them to multi-year deals, and let a young core grow up together.

One thing the team still hasn’t done: reveal its identity. As Daily Faceoff noted, PWHL Las Vegas may still be waiting to reveal its new name and branding to the public — but it’s becoming increasingly clear who will be suiting up for its first season as one of the PWHL’s four new expansion teams.

05December can’t come soon enough

The franchise’s first-ever game comes against fellow expansion team PWHL Detroit, per Daily Faceoff — and the team’s official announcement pins down the home debut: a historic first night at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday, Dec. 6, facing Detroit at 5 p.m. PT.

Tickets for the home opener are on sale now, and the team has season ticket memberships and flex packs available following the full schedule release on Oct. 2, per the team’s announcement. For a city that has already made the Golden Knights one of hockey’s great expansion stories, the arrival of a women’s pro team on the Strip is the next chapter — and signings like Eden’s are how you write it.

There’s a symmetry to it. The Golden Knights built their inaugural roster on players with something to prove; PWHL Las Vegas is building its first roster around players who have already proven everything — a four-time national champion who led the NCAA in scoring, a third-overall pick with two years to grow alongside her. December 6 can’t come soon enough.

Las Vegas hockey keeps stacking wins off the ice too: the Raiders’ weekend battle with Kansas City had the whole town talking, and our Vegas daily roundup has everything else happening around the valley tonight. More on the season ahead in Sports.