Las Vegas Officially Signs Tessa Janecke

Las Vegas has officially secured their first-ever draft pick, Tessa Janecke, signing her to a two-year deal. Janecke becomes the first player from the 2026 draft class to sign. 

Tessa Janecke represents the USA on the international stage. The USA Hockey program has had a full golden run dating back to the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championships, where Janecke scored the golden goal against Canada kick starting their historic run. 

Next was the Rivalry Series where the USA completed the first-ever full series sweep outscoring Canada 24-7 through the four game series, Janecke scored 1 goal with 2 assists. And rounding it out was the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games, where Janecke made her Olympic debut as the USA won a perfect gold. Throughout the Olympic Tournament Janecke had five assists. 

With the Olympic win Janecke became the first Penn State athlete to win a Winter Olympic Gold Medal, in a collegiate career for the record books. She beat the all-time scoring (men’s and women’s) record with 201 points, setting the program record for goals 89 and assists with 117, and a plus/minus of +112 in 145 games with the Nittany Lions. 

She was Penn State’s first top-three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award after being named to the top-10 for the third season in a row. She also won AHA Player and Forward of the Year for the third straight season, becoming the second woman in conference history to do so.