One year ago, Laila Edwards had yet to play a game with the U.S. senior national team.
Yet she finished the 2023-24 hockey campaign as the world championship MVP, tying for the tournament lead in goals.
Now, she’s making the switch from forward to defense, a not-uncommon move through the years of USA Hockey.
Edwards made her blue line debut for the national team on Wednesday night, pairing with two-time Olympian Megan Keller in the Americans’ biggest rout of Canada in 12 years.
Edwards, who at 6 feet, 1 inch, was the tallest player on the world championship roster, wanted to make the switch and discussed it with USA Hockey officials over the offseason.
“There’s a lot of numbers and competition on the forward end,” she recently told media at the University of Wisconsin, where she is a junior. “Little bit smaller on the back end, so they want to see how I can help the squad on the back end.”
Edwards’ older sister Chayla played defense at Wisconsin, finishing her college career last season. One of Edwards’ current Wisconsin teammates is 2022 Olympian Caroline Harvey, who made the last three world championship all-star teams on defense.
“I’m built to be a defenseman,” said Laila Edwards, the first Black woman to play for the senior national team. “I’ve been on forward, but I think I have some styles of play and things in my game that are good for a defenseman. I get excited to try new things and see how I do back there.”
She still primarily plays forward for Wisconsin and leads NCAA Division I with 13 goals in 12 games. She also took reps on the blue line in recent Badgers practices and games in preparation for the national team.
Edwards, shouted out last year on the podcast of fellow Cleveland Heights natives Jason and Travis Kelce, joins a litany to play both positions for the U.S.
Karyn Bye led the first U.S. Olympic women’s hockey team in 1998 with five goals, then switched to defense before going back to forward for the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. A.J. Mleczko went from forward in 1998 to defense in 2002.
They were followed by four-time Olympian Julie Chu and three-time Olympians Monique Lamoureux-Morando and Gigi Marvin, who all played both positions for the national team.
