Cayla Barnes is the top ranked defender for the 2024 PWHL Draft and the Ohio State grad is expected to make an immediate impact in the top pairing of a PWHL roster next year.
Cayla Barnes is the top ranked defender for the 2024 PWHL Draft and the Ohio State grad is expected to make an immediate impact in the top pairing of a PWHL roster next year.
When the first defender is selected at the 2024 PWHL Draft, it's expected to be NCAA and Team USA blueliner Cayla Barnes. There are others, including veteran European Ronja Savolainen and youngster Daniela Pejsova, who will be high picks, but Barnes has set herself apart over the last several seasons as an elite two-way defender.
This season Barnes, 25, helped Ohio State win an NCAA national championship including a brilliant transition from defensive to offense stripping the puck from Wisconsin captain Britta Curl before quickly turning the puck up ice and jumpstarting the attack for the winning goal.
She scored 11 goals and 36 points in 39 games with the Buckeyes.
With Team USA, Barnes has already won Olympic gold and silver, along with two World Championship golds and three silvers. She was named a World Championship All-Star in 2019, and was twice named the Best Defender at the U-18 World Championships.
It's a decorated career for the right shot defender who mixed tenacious physicality, with positional responsibility, and the ability to choose opportunities to join the attack without giving up chances the other way.
She transitions the puck well, and finds ways to get pucks through traffic. Barnes is a complete defender with few weaknesses who will immediately step onto a top pairing in the PWHL.