The PWHL will hold its third annual entry draft in Ottawa on June 24, the league announced on Tuesday, with University of Wisconsin’s Casey O’Brien anticipated to be one of the top selections following her MVP senior season.
What’s yet to be determined is how many teams will be participating in the draft with the six-team league having yet to announce its decision on whether to expand by as many as two franchises.
The draft will take place at Ottawa’s newly expanded Hard Rock Hotel and Casino set to open this spring, and serve as the first event held in the facility’s theatre.
O’Brien is among the prospects who have already met the May 8 deadline to declare being eligible for the draft.
The 23-year-old from Massachusetts is coming off winning her third national title with the Badgers, and was this season’s Patty Kazmaier Award winner. The second-year captain led the nation with 88 points (26 goals, 62 assists), and set a school record with 274 career points (97 goals, 177 assists) in 182 games.
The draft order has yet to be set with the second-year league’s announcement coming during a three-week break coinciding with the women’s world championships being held in the Czech Republic.
Each of the six teams have three games remaining following the break, with league-leading Montreal the only one to have already clinched a top-four playoff berth. Toronto sits second and is a regulation win from clinching.
Two points separate the next three teams, with Boston sitting third, Ottawa fourth and defending champion Minnesota fifth. New York sits last, six points out of contention and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for a second straight season.
Other top U.S. prospects declaring themselves as eligible include Clarkson’s Haley Winn, currently competing in her third world tournament, and Cornell’s Rory Guilday.
Top Canadian draft-eligible prospects include Boston College’s Abby Newhook and the Clarkson tandem of Anne Cherkowski and Nicole Gosling, who’s cousin Julia was selected by Toronto in the first round of last year’s draft. Colgate’s Hannah Murphy, who is from Kingston, Ontario, is regarded as the top goalie prospect after setting a school record with 15 career shutouts.
Among the top European draft-eligible prospects are two members of the Czech Republic national team: Natalie Mlynkova, who completed her senior season at Minnesota, and Colgate’s Kristyna Kaltounkova.
This story has been corrected to indicate Nicole and Julia Gosling are cousins.
AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
Czech Republic's Kristyna Kaltounkova, top, and Canada's Brianne Jenner in action during the IIHF Women's World Championship, Group A, match between Czech Republic and Canada, in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Monday, April 14, 2025. (Vaclav Pancer/CTK via AP)
United States' Haley Winn, right, challenges Blayre Turnbull of Canada during the group A match between United States and Canada at the Women's Ice Hockey Championships in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.
Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.
On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.
It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.
The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.
Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.
The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.
Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.
Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.
Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.
The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.
Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.
Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.
President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
