Cayla Barnes

Cayla Marie Barnes (born January 7, 1999) is an American ice hockey player for PWHL Detroit of the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) and the United States women's national ice hockey team. She previously played for the Montreal Victoire and Seattle Torrent.

A three-time Olympic medalist, Barnes won gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics as the youngest player on Team USA, silver at the 2022 Winter Olympics, and gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics. She has competed in six IIHF Women's World Championships, earning three gold medals (2019, 2023, 2025) and three silver medals (2021, 2022, 2024), and was named to the tournament all-star team in 2019. Barnes is the first player in history to win three consecutive gold medals at the IIHF World Women's U18 Championship (2015, 2016, 2017), earning Best Defender honors in 2016 and 2017.

Barnes played college ice hockey at Boston College and Ohio State, where she won the 2024 NCAA National Championship with the Buckeyes. She was drafted fifth overall by PWHL Montreal in the 2024 PWHL draft and later signed with the expansion Seattle Torrent in 2025.

Early life Born in Eastvale, California to Michelle Church and Scott Barnes, Cayla is the youngest of five siblings with four older brothers. Barnes initially began skating as a figure skater, her mother's preference after having four sons. However, she was drawn to ice hockey after watching the hockey program at the other end of the rink during her figure skating lessons, and switched to ice hockey around age three. "I just loved it from the start," Barnes said. "I just kept going with it. But I definitely got into it because they all played, and I just wanted to do what they did." Barnes watched the 2010 Winter Olympics at around age 11 and decided she wanted to pursue college hockey and make a national team roster.

Playing career College Boston College (2017–2023) Barnes enrolled at Boston College in the fall of 2017 and played in the first five games of the season before receiving a call-up to join the U.S. Women's National Team in Tampa, Florida, on October 28, 2017. She withdrew from Boston College to prepare for the 2018 Winter Olympics, preserving her freshman year of eligibility, and returned in August 2018 to restart her freshman year both academically and athletically. She was named to both the Hockey East Third Team All-Star and All-Rookie Team. She earned Hockey East Second Team All-Star honors. In the COVID-shortened season, she recorded 10 points on four goals and six assists in 19 games while leading the team with 36 blocked shots. She was named a Hockey East First Team All-Star and AHCA Second Team All-American. She returned for the 2022–23 season as team captain in her redshirt senior year, recording 19 points on six goals and 13 assists in 36 games while leading BC with 63 blocked shots. She was named Hockey East Second Team All-Star and earned Hockey East Defender of the Month honors in January 2023. Barnes concluded her Boston College career with 75 points (20 goals, 55 assists) in 131 games, ranking seventh all-time among BC defenders in points. In her lone season with the Buckeyes and her final year of NCAA eligibility, Barnes recorded 36 points on 11 goals and 25 assists in 39 games. Her +71 plus-minus rating led the nation by 16 over the next-best player.

In the finals of the 2024 NCAA Championship game, Barnes made a crucial defensive play to break up a Wisconsin breakaway before assisting on the championship-winning goal scored by Joy Dunne in Ohio State's 1–0 victory over Wisconsin. She signed a three-year contract with the team on June 21, 2024. During the 2024–25 PWHL season, Barnes led all Victoire players in time on ice and recorded two goals and 11 assists for 13 points in 30 regular season games, ranking third among all PWHL rookies in scoring.

On December 4, 2024, Barnes scored her first professional goal on a breakaway against the New York Sirens, receiving a pass from Jennifer Gardiner and finishing with a backhand shot in a 4–1 loss at Place Bell. On March 8, 2025, Barnes scored a dramatic overtime goal just 21 seconds into the extra period to give Montreal a 3–2 victory over the Boston Fleet at Agganis Arena before a sellout crowd of 5,968. The backhand goal on a rush, assisted by Laura Stacey, snapped Boston's franchise-record seven-game home winning streak and was Barnes' second goal of the season.

Seattle Torrent (2025–2026)

During the league's expansion to eight teams ahead of the 2025–26 season, Barnes was left unprotected by the Victoire and signed a three-year contract with the Seattle Torrent on June 5, 2025. Barnes was one of the Torrent's marquee signings during general manager Meghan Turner's exclusive signing window, joining Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter as the foundation of the expansion franchise.

The Torrent made their home debut on November 28, 2025, at Climate Pledge Arena against the Minnesota Frost. The game drew 16,014 fans, setting a new attendance record for a women's hockey game in a U.S. arena and becoming the highest-attended home venue game in PWHL history. Although Seattle lost the game 3–0, the crowd's enthusiastic support throughout the match signaled strong community backing for the expansion franchise. Barnes played a key role in the comeback victory, assisting on both Seattle goals scored in the final 90 seconds of the game. Trailing 1–0 late in the third period, Barnes passed to Hannah Bilka, whose shot created a rebound that Carpenter buried for Seattle's first home goal in franchise history at 18:36.

PWHL Detroit (2026–present) During the league's expansion to 12 teams ahead of the 2026–27 season, Barnes was left unprotected by the Torrent and signed a three-year contract with PWHL Detroit on June 5, 2026.

International play Barnes has represented the United States on both youth and senior national teams, earning multiple medals in international competition. She is the first player in history to win three consecutive gold medals at the IIHF Women's World U18 Championship and has competed in two Olympic Games, winning gold in 2018 and silver in 2022. At the senior level, she has participated in six World Championships, earning three gold and three silver medals.

Junior national team Barnes represented the United States at the 2015, 2016, and 2017 IIHF Women's World U18 Championship, becoming the first player in history to win three consecutive gold medals at the tournament. She was named Best Defender of the tournament in both 2016 and 2017, and served as team captain in 2017. In 15 total games across the three tournaments, Barnes recorded three goals and nine assists for 12 points.

Senior national team

2018 Olympics After being called up to the national team in late October 2017, Barnes made her senior debut at the 2018 Winter Olympics at the age of 19, becoming the youngest player on the team. Barnes played in all five Olympic games and won a gold medal as part of the team that defeated Canada 3–2 in a shootout in the final. The United States won gold by defeating Finland 2–1 in a shootout, and Barnes was named to the tournament Media All-Star Team. Barnes returned to the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship in Herning, Denmark, where she recorded five points on one goal and four assists as the United States earned another silver medal, losing 2–1 to Canada in the final.

At the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship in Brampton, Ontario, Barnes recorded three assists in the semifinal victory over the Czech Republic, including the primary assist on Amanda Kessel's opening power-play goal in the 9–1 win. In the gold medal game, she scored the insurance empty-net goal with 1:58 remaining in the United States' 6–3 victory over Canada, giving USA Hockey its first World Championship gold medal since 2019.

Barnes competed at the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship in Utica, New York, recording two assists through seven games. In the gold medal game, the United States lost to Canada 6–5 in overtime with Canada scoring the golden goal at 5:16 of overtime on a power play. Barnes and Team USA earned a silver medal.

2022 Olympics On January 2, 2022, Barnes was named to Team USA's roster for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. In the semifinal victory over Finland, Barnes scored a goal and added an assist as the United States won 4–1. Barnes finished the tournament with two goals and four assists for six points in seven games, earning a silver medal after the United States lost to Canada in the gold medal game. She was part of a Seattle Torrent contingent that included teammates Hilary Knight, Alex Carpenter, Hannah Bilka, and Anna Wilgren on the U.S. roster. The United States swept all four games of the series, outscoring Canada 24–7 overall, marking the first sweep in Rivalry Series history.

On January 2, 2026, she was named to team USA's roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Personal life Barnes earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication and Management in Leadership from Boston College and pursued a Master's degree in Sports Management at Ohio State University. Her hobbies include roller hockey, soccer, lacrosse, reading, and painting. According to her USA Hockey profile, Barnes models her play after Scott Niedermayer, and her favorite postgame meal is pasta, chicken and green beans.

Barnes is represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2017–18 Boston College HE 5 0 0 0 4 — — — — — 2018–19 Boston College HE 36 4 19 23 44 — — — — — 2019–20 Boston College HE 35 6 17 23 40 — — — — — 2020–21 Boston College HE 19 4 6 10 14 — — — — — 2022–23 Boston College HE 36 6 13 19 34 — — — — — 2023–24 Ohio State University WCHA 39 11 25 36 28 — — — — —2024–25Montreal VictoirePWHL30211131240000 2025–26 Seattle Torrent PWHL 30 3 5 8 20 — — — — — PWHL totals 60 5 16 21 32 4 0 0 0 0

International

Awards and honors Honors Year RefCollege Hockey East Third Team All-Star 2019 USCHO.com Second Team All-Star 2021 Hockey East Second Team All-Star 2023 International World U18 Championship – Best Defender 2016, 2017 World U18 Championship – Media All-Star Team 2016 World Championship – Media All-Star Team 2019