There are friendships that read clearly for what they are, and then there are friendships that the internet simply refuses to leave alone. To be fair, it’s not too difficult to understand why Laila Edwards and Caroline Harvey fit into the second group.
The two met as children, somewhere around 2012, at a youth hockey tournament in Boston. Edwards was 8 or 9. At the age of ten, Harvey was reportedly donning what Edwards has since called a truly awful helmet: an Easton, matte black, football-field-shaped helmet. Edwards didn’t say anything about it at the time. She admitted that she was a little afraid of Harvey. Harvey was just that good.
The warm, slightly embarrassing quality of a true friendship is present in that origin story. Not a fake one.
The dynamic had completely changed by the time they both arrived at the University of Wisconsin. They went on to become roommates, co-captains, and the kind of unbreakable team that coaches refer to as “detailed,” “organized,” and “visionary.” In a straightforward statement, Wisconsin head coach Mark Johnson said, “Laila’s ceiling is whatever she wants it to be and KK’s is the same way.” When two players receive such compliments in the same sentence, it indicates how closely their careers have been intertwined.
Then came the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, and suddenly the hockey world was paying attention to more than just their stats.
In a casual TikTok comment during the Games, Edwards called Harvey “single.” It was brief, perhaps casual, maybe not. However, it coincided with rumors that Harvey had been secretly seeing Canadian forward Daryl Watts. These rumors had gained traction in part because Watts is a member of the opposing team, which made the whole thing alluring to a certain type of hockey fan. Watts and Harvey had never made any public confirmations. Neither had emerged. However, nobody had slowed down as a result.
Regardless of its intent, Edwards’ TikTok comment was quickly interpreted as proof that something had ended or that nothing had ever existed in the first place. The internet, predictably, ran with it.
Here, caution is advised. Speculation regarding the relationships of athletes can easily lead to uncomfortable situations, particularly when those athletes have chosen not to disclose their personal lives to the public. Both Edwards and Harvey are in their early twenties and appear to be starting important careers. It can seem that the focus on their personal lives is out of proportion to what they have truly disclosed.
The rumor cycle and what Edwards has publicly disclosed differ slightly. Her Instagram account, which has almost 96,000 followers, depicts a player who has truly come to terms with who she is: Cleveland-based, recently selected by the San Jose PWHL team, still figuring out what it means to have won Olympic gold. She recently wrote about spending “the weekend of a lifetime” with loved ones. There isn’t much about romantic relationships in particular, but there is warmth there.
Based on edits and what fans call suggestive interactions, some sections of TikTok have also connected Edwards to figure skater Alysa Liu. Additionally, there is no verified foundation for that.
The most substantiated relationship in Laila Edwards’ public life, at least from the outside, remains the one with Harvey. Together, they have attended leadership summits across the globe. Their families have blended together; Edwards’ six-year-old nephew Shiloh appeared in the Harvey family photo at the Patty Kazmaier Award ceremony in March. “He’s part of my family,” Harvey said, without any apparent sense of exaggeration.
With the PWHL Draft now complete and both players heading to separate franchises — Harvey expected in Vancouver, Edwards in San Jose — that closeness is about to face its first real geographic test. They’ve already talked through the scenarios, half-seriously, trying to find the version of events where they still end up in the same city, or at least within driving distance for lunch on an off day.
In any case, they might continue to be close. It’s also possible that things will progressively change as a result of travel and new coworkers in the workplace. Even the best long-term friendships function in this way.
For now, though, the question the internet keeps asking — who is Laila Edwards’ girlfriend — doesn’t have a confirmed answer. What does have an answer is who her best friend is. There has never been any doubt about that part.
