The Professional Women’s Hockey League franchise in Detroit hit it’s Phase 2 expansion quota … and then kept going, reportedly adding superstar forward Hilary Knight in a sign-and-trade with the PWHL’s Las Vegas expansion franchise on Monday, June 8.
The grand dame of Team USA – no American woman has more career Olympic goals or points – Knight spent last season with the expansion Seattle Torrent, though a torn knee ligament (which she played through in Milan) cut her season in half.
Knight will be 37 when the 2026-27 season starts, but she still has her scoring touch, with five goals and nine assists in 22 games for the Torrent, including two goals and two assists in eight games after returning from the MCL tear. She’s was considered unlikely to leave Seattle, however, having stated she wanted to play two more seasons there.
The regime in Detroit, led by trailblazing general manager Manon Rheaume, apparently won her over. The setup for the PWHL’s expansion process, in which the four new teams – Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas and San Jose – will mostly stock their rosters via free agency, likely helped.
How did PWHL Detroit trade for Hilary Knight?
The expansion teams were required to submit rankings of their preferred unprotected players for an “Expansion Foundational Offer” (aka, an EFO). Players claimed via EFO – one per team – were required to sign with the expansion teams, but they could choose the length of the contract – from two to four seasons (one more than the league’s previous high) – and would be guaranteed a minimum of $100,000 per season. Knight made approximately $106,000 last season playing with the Torrent.
With Detroit using its “Expansion Foundational Offer” on Toronto star forward Daryl Watts, Knight appeared headed to Las Vegas.
But Rheaume and the Detroit squad will reportedly be sending its first-round pick – the slot of which is unknown (other than Vancouver holding the No. 1 pick, likely to be Team USA/Wisconsin star Caroline Harvey), as the PWHL is yet to announce a complete draft order for the event slated to be held at the Fox Theater in Detroit on June 17.
The trade cannot be completed until June 16 – when many of the PWHL’s best and brightest will be in Detroit for the leagues award show – due to a roster freeze as the league sorts out its complicated expansion process, which has several phases.
Who is Hilary Knight?
Quite simply, Knight is the most decorated U.S. hockey player ever in international play, with five Olympic medals – two golds, including one as Team USA captain in February, and three silvers.
Knight announced during her run in Milan that she would be retiring from Olympic competition, but she still appears to have several seasons left in her PWHL career.
Her 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists in 30 games) for the Boston Fleet during the 2024-25 season led the fledgling league, though she was left unprotected in the PWHLs previous expansion process. She landed with the Torrent, close to her West Coast roots.
Now she’ll be in Detroit, but she has plenty of Midwestern bona fides as well. She grew up in Lake Forest, Illinois, near Chicago, where she learned hockey playing with her brothers. She then starred at Wisconsin, with 143 goals – the most by a man or woman in program history – in 161 games from 2007-12.
Knight continued her scoring run as a pro, joining the Boston Blades of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League in 2012 and putting up 32 points (17 goals, 15 assists) in just 24 games. When the CWHL folded, Knight joined the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League and again torched the competition, with 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists) in 24 games.
Along the way, she won gold with Team USA in 2018, then won gold again at the 2026 Games, where she became the highest-scoring American in Olympic competition.
This breaking news story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hilary Knight to PWHL Detroit: Team USA star to be traded
Reporting by Free Press staff reports, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Free Press staff reports, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
