VANCOUVER, BC – PWHL Vancouver announced today that forward Michelle Karvinen has been signed to a one-year Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) Standard Player Agreement for the 2025-2026 season. Karvinen was selected in the first round by Vancouver, seventh overall, in the PWHL draft 2025.
“Michelle is a proven winner and hockey veteran with a wealth of experience, and we are excited to welcome a player of her caliber to PWHL Vancouver,” said Cara Gardner Morey, general manager of PWHL Vancouver. “Her leadership on and off the ice will be extremely important to the success of our team this season.”
The 35-year-old from Rødovre, Denmark, is a four-time Olympian who made her Olympic debut in Vancouver in 2010 and won her first of three Olympic bronze medals with the Finnish national team. Karvinen has won eight medals (1 silver, 7 bronze) in 12 appearances at the IIHF Women’s World Championship and became Finland’s all-time leading scorer at the World Championships with 62 points (24G, 38A) while captaining the team in April.
The former University of North Dakota captain has won championship titles in Finland’s Auroraliiga with the Espoo Blues (2007-08, 2008-09), Switzerland’s SWHL with Ladies Team Lugano (2020-21) and Russia’s ZhHL with KRS Vanke Rays (2021-2022). She has also won four championship titles in the Swedish SDHL, three with Luleå HF (2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19) and most recently in 2024-25 with Frölunda HC, where she scored 35 points (21G, 14A) in 32 games and added 12 points (5G, 7A) in 11 playoff games.
“Participating in Vancouver is a full circle moment,” said Karvinen. “Vancouver, you made my Olympic dream come true at the 2010 Olympic Games. Today you made another dream come true. As a minor hockey girl, I could only dream of this moment: to be a professional hockey player and play in a professional women’s hockey league. I am deeply honored to join the Vancouver and British Columbia community, to be part of raising the bar even higher raised the bar for women’s hockey and to be a part of PWHL Vancouver from the very first puck drop.”
Karvinen was the historic first of five players selected by PWHL Vancouver in the PWHL Draft and is the first from the team’s entry draft class to sign. She joins a deep PWHL Vancouver forward group that includes Sarah Nurse, Jenn Gardiner, Hannah Miller, Michela Cava, Tereza Vanišová, Abby Boreen, Izzy Daniel, Denisa Křížová, Gabby Rosenthal and Brooke McQuigge.
PWHL Vancouver will officially take the ice for its first-ever game on Friday, November 21 against PWHL Seattle at Pacific Coliseum. Season ticket memberships for the inaugural season of PWHL Vancouver are available through thePWHL Vancouver website. All teams will offer ready-made partial ticket packages on October 7. Single game tickets will be available on October 14th. For the latest news and updates, fans can sign up for the official PWHL Vancouver newsletterhere.
View the full 2025-26 PWHL Vancouver schedulehere.
Click here for a complete list of PWHL offseason transactions.
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