Cayla Barnes is the top defender available in the 2024 PWHL Draft, and her performance this year with Ohio State and Team USA could have her in the mix to go first overall.

In the 2023 PWHL Draft, emphasis was placed on defenders. Seven of the top ten picks in the draft were defenders. It remains a league-wide weakness this season, as many teams are leaning heavily on their top pairings. In the 32 team NHL, where talent is spread across the board, seven players have averaged more than 25 minutes per night, which the league leader being Los Angeles Kings defender Drew Doughty who is playing 25:46 per night.

In the PWHL, a league with only six teams, there remains seven players averaging more than 25 minutes per night with New York's Ella Shelton at 26:19, Minnesota's Lee Stecklein at 27:31, and Toronto's Renata Fast and Jocelyne Larocque at 28:15 and 28:18 respectively.

Considering how well Cayla Barnes has played this season internationally and in the NCAA, it begs the question of whether or not she could steal top spot in the PWHL Draft.

That pick will likely be a mix between positional need and talent, but with Sarah Fillier, a center, Hannah Bilka, a left winger, and Cayla Barnes a defender as the likely top three picks, if the blueline is a concern, Barnes could be the answer.

In the NCAA this season, Barnes led the nation with an incredible +/- mark of +71. 

At the 2023 World Championships, Barnes was third in ice time for Team USA defenders behind only Megan Keller and Caroline Harvey. This season without Lee Stecklein in the mix, Barnes will take on an even larger role, which we saw at the Rivalry Series this year when Stecklein and Harvey were not in the lineup.

Perhaps no moment in Barnes' year highlighted her impact more than a backcheck in the NCAA national championship final where she stripped the puck from Wisconsin captain and USA teammate Britta Curl, quickly turned the puck up ice, beat a forechecker and hit Hannah Bilka with a tape-to-tape pass that resulted in Joy Dunne's championship winning goal.

She's a two way defender, who despite her frame, plays a tough and in your face game, can play a shut down role, and can also run a powerplay.

It's a unique combination among defenders, and if blueliner support is a need, Barnes could find herself sliding higher in the draft.

PWHL New York, who right now is the leading contender to finish in last, would likely pass on Barnes in favour of Bilka or Fillier, but should PWHL Boston finish with the most points under the Gold Plan, as the other team currently out of the playoffs, they could opt to take Barnes as a replacement to Sophie Jaques, who they obviously thought would be a top pairing blueliner alongside Megan Keller when they picked her 10th overall in the draft before trading her to Minnesota.

After scoring 36 points in 39 games this season with Ohio State while playing a crucial defensive role en route to a national championship, and winning gold with Team USA this season while showcasing herself as one of USA's top blueliners at the Rivalry Series, a strong 2024 World Championship performance could propel Barnes into the mix with teams looking at the top pick in the draft.