The Ottawa Charge have signed first-round pick Vivian Jungels for 2026-27, adding a three-time NCAA champion to their blue line. The one-year deal brings Ottawa to 19 players under contract for the upcoming season, including 16 returnees.
Jungels, a 22-year-old defender from Edina, MN, was the first of Ottawa’s six selections in the 2026 PWHL Draft, taken 11th overall.
What she brings
Across four seasons at the University of Wisconsin, Jungels recorded 75 points, with 19 goals and 56 assists, in 162 games. She finished the 2025-26 season with 21 points in 39 games.
The 5’7” left-shot defender played alongside first overall pick Caroline ‘KK’ Harvey and posted a plus-218 differential, an all-time high for the Badgers program. She also led Wisconsin in blocked shots over the past two seasons, totaling 118 in 80 games.
In their words
“Vivian is a really smooth skater with a hockey IQ that is off the charts,”
Mike Hirshfeld, Charge General Manager
Hirshfeld said the Charge expect Jungels to make an immediate impact, highlighting her decision-making and first pass out of the defensive zone.
A familiar connection in Ottawa
Jungels was one of a record five Wisconsin players selected in the draft’s first round on June 17. In Ottawa, she reunites with Sarah Wozniewicz, her Badgers teammate for three seasons and two national titles.
She joins a defensive group that includes Ronja Savolainen, Jocelyne Larocque, Kathryn Reilly, Emma Greco, Brooke Hobson and Vita Poniatovskaia.
Before her collegiate career, Jungels helped Edina High win State Championships in 2019 and 2021 and received the 2022 Ms. Minnesota Hockey Award. She also represented the U.S. in the Collegiate Series against Canada in three straight seasons from 2023-25.
Source: official PWHL release.
Source: thepwhl.com
