PWHL Las Vegas' Tessa Janecke's goal scoring, leadership, and record-breaking college career give PWHL Las Vegas a young center to build around for years to come.
“Tessa is the kind of player every organization hopes to build around,”
Now let's rewind to a little less than a month ago, specifically June 16, 2026, the day PWHL Las Vegas landed the third overall pick in the draft. During the expansion process, PWHL Las Vegas and PWHL Detroit made a significant trade with PWHL Las Vegas signed and trading Hilary Knight to Detroit for their first round pick.
The selection ended up being the third overall pick, and Las Vegas selected Janecke.
Fast forward to today, and PWHL Las Vegas now has Janecke signed a two-year deal with the club.
Janecke played at Penn State for four years and, in her final season, while also serving as captain, finished with 26 goals, 22 assists, and 48 points in 31 games. Throughout Janecke's collegiate career, she averaged over a point per game. In three out of four years, she notched over 20 goals, and surpassed 50 points twice. Janecke currently holds Penn State records, for men's and women's hockey in goals with 89, and assists with 112. She also holds the records for points per game, assists per game, multi-goal games, and shots per game.
Not only that, but Janecke also has experience wearing the "C" and leading a team on a playoff run, leading Penn State to its first ever Frozen Four in 2026. During this season she posted a +29, 65.8% face-off percentage, and nine power play goals.
All around Janecke is a complete player who broke many records for Penn State.
PWHL Las Vegas fans are getting a 200-foot center who plays with an edge but also has a scoring touch. That scoring touch included notching the golden goal for USA at the 2025 World Championships.
Most teams would love to have a young, up and coming 1C who they can build around, a true center who can not only be solid defensively but also lead their team offensively.
PWHL Las Vegas has done well building a support system around their new franchise piece, and it started with who they selected fifth overall in this year's draft. At fifth, Vegas took Wisconsin winget Lacey Eden, who she will be able to build some chemistry with and hopefully play together with for years to come, followed by Princeton forward Issy Wunder at 13th overall.
Janecke is also reuniting with fellow Olympic gold medal winner Hayley Scamurra, who is coming off winning the Walter Cup with the Montreal Victoire where in 30 games Scamurra recorded a career-best 16 points. Having a veteran like Scamurra to help Janecke as she embarks on her first pro season is invaluable.
Janecke's signing marks a big day for PWHL Las Vegas as they continue to build out their new team. The first piece from the 2026 Draft has been signed. Who will follow suit?
