When the all-time winningest coach in women’s college hockey history says he’s been telling people all season to make a point to get to a Wisconsin women’s hockey game to watch a player in action because he’s not sure there will ever be anyone else like her, that’s a good sign that she’s the best player in the country.
That coach is of course Mark Johnson and he was obviously talking about his senior defender Caroline Harvey. There simply has never been a player like her and ever since she launched into international consciousness, coaches everywhere have been searching rinks to try and find “the next KK Harvey” while young defenders everywhere have adapted their training to try and emulate her. She has set the standard for what an offensive defender can look like in women’s hockey.
In an unprecedented Olympic season without centralization, Harvey still stood out. Her 64 points were 25 more than the next highest-scored defender and were tied for third among all skaters. She beat her own program record for single-season defensive scoring at Wisconsin despite playing in eight fewer games than last season when she first rewrote the history books. In her last year, she became the first Badger defender to post 200 career points and set a record for career points scored by a defender in the WCHA, surpassing a 20-year-old mark.
The 2026 Patty Kazmaier Award winner is just the third defender to ever earn that honor. A two-year captain, she anchored the Badger defense to second in the nation, allowing just 1.46 goals per game. They also had the second-best penalty kill in the country, killing 88.99% of player advantages against.
Often praised for her scoring and puck distribution, what is often overlooked is how Harvey’s top-tier defending allows her to be so involved on offense. An incredible skater, she has closing speed that she can use to chase down an opponent or start a breakout. Her speed, particularly her first few strides, gives her the freedom to push into play on offense, knowing she can recover and be back on defense in the event of a turnover. The past year she has added increased edge work that has improved her east/west movement, allowing her to move more deftly in tight spaces, deke the opposing team and open up shooting or passing lanes for herself and her teammates.
She has a tenacity and work ethic that her teammates speak of with awe and work to emulate. Never complacent, there’s always something Harvey is working to improve. That all came together for an unusual but standout senior campaign. The hours before and after practice spent fine tuning her already elite skills are added to high hockey intelligence and instincts and the result is a player who is not often beat on defense and is an offensive threat sees the ice incredibly well. Harvey can thread the puck to teammates, but also pick her spot and beat a goalie seemingly at will. Harvey has become a more discerning shooter, thinking several steps ahead and anticipating where her teammates might be and where the puck will end up. A full third of her goals this season were game-winners.
An Olympian before she ever played a minute of college hockey, she entered Wisconsin already a world-class player and has only gotten better. At just 23 years old Harvey is a two-time Olympian with a gold and silver, was named 2026 Olympic MVP and Best Defender and tied for the tournament lead in scoring. She has already played in five IIHF Women’s World Championships, was named Directorate’s Award for Best Defender in 2025 and has two golds and three silvers.
Harvey has elevated the game at every level and every opportunity. In her senior season she earned her third-straight First-Team All-American designation. She was also named WCHA Defender of the Year, making her the first player to ever earn that award three times in her career. In addition to the defensive accolades, she was named the WCHA Player of the Year this season. This was her second season as a top-three finalist for the Patty Kaz and her third as a top-ten finalist.
For being one of the best the game has ever seen. For consistently improving and adding to her arsenal. For rewriting the record books and setting a new standard at her position. For all these reasons and more, Wisconsin’s Caroline Harvey is the 2026 USCHO Player of the Year.