Shortly after winning a national championship and earning the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in women's college hockey, former Wisconsin standout Casey O'Brien was among the headliners taken in the 2025 PWHL Draft.
O'Brien (Milton, Mass.) went third overall to the New York Sirens.
The right-shot forward led the nation with 88 points (26 goals) in 41 games en route to a third national title. O'Brien, who was also named a first-team All-American, finished her collegiate career 97 goals and 274 points in 182 games with the Badgers, passing Boston Fleet forward Hillary Knight as the program's all-time leading scorer.
The Sirens selected O'Brien moments after selecting Colgate's Kristýna Kaltounková with the first overall pick. Kaltounková is a former prep standout at Vermont Academy. No player in prep has scored more goals in a single season since she had 45 at Vermont in 2019-20.
Three other locals heard their names called during Tuesday's draft.
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Northeastern standout Skylar Irving (Kingston, Mass.) went with the fourth pick in the third round to the Montreal Victoire. Irving had 33 points and a career-high 17 goals in 37 games for the Huskies. A product of Tabor Academy, the Bay State Breakers and Notre Dame (Hingham), Irving posted 99 points (42 goals) in 152 collegiate games, winning two Hockey East titles.
The Sirens also took Yale's Anna Bargman (Boxford, Mass.) with the first pick in the fifth round. Bargman, a former standout with Phillips Andover and the East Coast Wizards, had 23 points (13 goals) in 32 games for the Bulldogs this past season. She totaled 100 points (53 goals) in 133 games at Yale.
Quinnipiac's Maddy Samoskevich (Sandy Hook, Conn.) went to PWHL Vancouver with the seventh pick in the fifth round. She's coming off a 22-point, eight-goal season in 38 games for the Bobcats. A former Shattuck-St. Mary's standout like O'Brien, Samoskevich had 84 points (19 goals) in 168 collegiate games.
A slew of players with New England connections were also selected.
The Fleet selected former Minnesota Duluth forward Olivia Mobley with the second pick in the third round. Mobley played three seasons at Quinnipiac before a season apiece at Ohio Sate and Duluth.
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The Fleet also took Boston College's Abby Newhook with the second pick of the fifth round. Newhook skated at Tabor and with the Bay State Breakers before a productive career in Chestnut Hill. She had 26 points (nine goals) as a senior, finishing with 113 points (55 goals) in 142 NCAA contests.
The Sirens took a pair of goaltenders in former Boston University netminder Callie Shanahan in the fourth round and Quinnipiac's Kaley Doyle in the sixth. Doyle, who played at Brown before QU, took home NEHJ's New England Goalie of the Year honors this past season.
The Victoire, meanwhile, picked BU defender Tamara Giaquinto in the sixth round as well as QU forward Maya Labad in the fifth round.
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The Minnesota Frost selected Quinnipiac defender Kendall Cooper with the sixth overall pick, UConn defender Ava Rinker in the fourth round and Providence defender Brooke Becker in the sixth round.
UConn forward Jada Habisch went to PWHL Seattle in the fourth round, too.
