PLYMOUTH, Mich. — USA Hockey announced its 25-player roster on Saturday for the upcoming IIHF Women’s World Championship, marking the national team’s first major tournament since capturing gold at the 2026 Milan Olympics.
Twenty players will return from that championship team, including the entire seven-player blue line. Headlining the group is 2026 PWHL No. 1 pick Caroline Harvey, fresh off earning Olympic MVP honors, an NCAA championship and the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the top player in women’s college hockey. Harvey is joined by longtime Wisconsin teammate Laila Edwards, who finished tied for third in tournament scoring in her Olympic debut, and veteran Megan Keller, who scored the golden goal in overtime against Canada in Milan to clinch the Americans’ third Olympic title.
With women’s worlds allowing 25 players compared to the 23-player Olympic limit, Team USA had room for its lone defensive newcomer: Emma Peschel. Drafted No. 7 by the New York Sirens after an excellent career at Ohio State University, Peschel is a competitive defender with good size (5-foot-10) who could move up the depth chart as the Olympic cycle goes on.
Up front, the Americans have brought back 11 forwards from the Milan roster, led by captain Hilary Knight, who will play in her 16th world championship. Also among the returning forwards are two of Team USA’s top scorers in Milan — Abbey Murphy and Hannah Bilka — plus two of the PWHL’s top forwards last season, Kelly Pannek and Taylor Fox (née Heise). Twenty-one-year-old Ohio State captain Joy Dunne enters the tournament on a tear with eight goals and 16 points in 10 college games, positioning herself for a breakout run in her third women’s worlds.
The most notable absence on the attack is veteran winger Kendall Coyne Schofield, who will miss the tournament after announcing her pregnancy on social media Thursday night. Britta Curl-Salemme is also missing from the roster; USA Hockey has not provided an explanation for her absence from the team or the two-game exhibition series against Canada.
Those openings — coupled with the expanded roster limit — paved the way for Casey O’Brien to make her first major tournament roster, alongside returning forwards Jesse Compher and Lacey Eden.
After Friday night’s 4-0 win against Canada, Team USA head coach John Wroblewski hinted at O’Brien and Compher’s inclusion on the worlds roster in an interview with The Athletic, saying O’Brien will get “a ton of runway” and that he believes she could be a “dominating, momentum-style player that contributes offensively.”
O’Brien won three national championships and finished as Wisconsin’s all-time leading scorer (274 points) before being drafted No. 3 to the New York Sirens in the 2025 PWHL Draft. She recorded 22 points in 28 games in her first pro season and slotted in well with former Badgers Kirsten Simms and Eden during Team USA’s pre-tournament competition.
Wroblewski said he was “enthusiastically inspired” by how Compher — arguably the biggest snub from the Olympic team — played Friday night.
“I have a lot of respect for the way that she’s carried herself throughout the last quad, going from an Olympian in (2022) to not being one (in 2026), and just trying to find out what works for her in this new program, but also showing why we should take her,” Wroblewski said. “There’s just a really amazing person there and a lot of character that I really respect.”
No. 1 goalie Aerin Frankel, who won MVP and Goaltender of the Year in the PWHL last season, will return to the U.S. crease along with backup Gwyneth Philips. University of Wisconsin goalie Ava McNaughton, who was the No. 3 in Milan, has been replaced by New York Sirens goalie Callie Shanahan. McNaughton, 22, suffered a lower-body injury during the Badgers’ season opener last month and dressed as the backup in Wisconsin’s 2-1 win against St. Cloud State on Friday.
“The team we’ve selected is incredibly talented and brings a level of skill that will be just as much fun to watch as it will be to coach,” Wroblewski said in Saturday’s press release. “We’re looking forward to getting to Denmark and competing for our ultimate goal, a gold medal.”
Team USA will play its first game on Nov. 6 in Esbjerg, Denmark, against Switzerland. This tournament will be the first in which all 10 teams are split evenly between two groups, rather than being split into two tiers. The U.S. is in Group A with Czechia, Switzerland, Germany and Austria.
Group B (Canada, Finland, Sweden, Japan and Denmark) will play its preliminary round games in Herning, Denmark, which will also host the gold medal game on Nov. 16.
Team USA’s 2026 World Championship rosterGoalies (3): Aerin Frankel, Gwyneth Philips, Callie Shanahan
Defenders (8): Laila Edwards, Caroline Harvey, Megan Keller, Haley Winn, Lee Stecklein, Cayla Barnes, Emma Peschel, Rory Guilday
Forwards (14): Hilary Knight, Hannah Bilka, Taylor Fox, Abbey Murphy, Alex Carpenter, Tessa Janecke, Joy Dunne, Hayley Scamurra, Kelly Pannek, Lacey Eden, Casey O’Brien, Kirsten Simms, Jesse Compher, Grace Zumwinkle
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
NHL, Women's Hockey
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