Hilary Knight will join PWHL Detroit through a sign-and-trade with Las Vegas once the league’s trade freeze lifts on June 16. Knight will first sign a foundational contract with Las Vegas, then be sent to Detroit for the expansion team’s first-round pick in ne
Hilary Knight’s offseason move is no longer a rumor with no end date—it has paperwork behind it, and a countdown attached.
Knight will be heading to PWHL Detroit through a sign-and-trade involving Las Vegas. a person with knowledge of the deal said on Monday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the trade. The agreement still won’t be official until the PWHL’s trade freeze lifts on June 16. the day before the draft.
Under the reported structure, Knight first signs a foundational contract with Las Vegas as part of Phase 2 of the league’s expansion signing process. Las Vegas then trades her to Detroit in exchange for Detroit’s first-round pick in the draft next week.
For Knight. it’s a shift that carries the weight of her résumé and the timing of a league still building itself. The 36-year-old is a five-time U.S. Olympian and one of women’s hockey’s most decorated players. She captained Team USA to gold at the Milan Cortina Games in February. where she deflected the championship game-tying goal late in the third period in a 2-1 overtime win against Canada.
Knight said the Olympics in Milan would be her last, but she planned to keep playing professionally. This is also her second straight PWHL offseason change. After spending her first two seasons in Boston. she left the Fleet to sign with the expansion Seattle Torrent so she could be closer to her offseason home in Idaho.
Now she’ll be closer to the Chicago-area town where she grew up—though it wasn’t simply a choice. Under the expansion rules, the Torrent could protect only three players. Seattle protected forward Alex Carpenter, defender Anna Wilgren and goalie Hannah Murphy.
Las Vegas and Detroit will both claim they got something out of the framework. Knight is set to receive the benefit of a foundational offer, which guarantees her making at least $100,000 per season. Last year she made $106,090.
Her path into Detroit also reflects how the league’s expansion process has been managed so far. Each of the PWHL’s four expansion teams was allowed one foundational contract offer. Las Vegas still had its foundational slot open. while Detroit previously used its offer to sign Toronto forward Daryl Watts last week.
Detroit has been busy beyond that. Earlier in the day, the team filled its maximum fifth expansion spot by signing Toronto forward Jesse Compher to a three-year contract. Compher won a silver medal for the U.S. at the 2022 Beijing Games.
Once Knight arrives, Detroit’s roster picture includes familiar Olympic hardware. She will join teammates who are already U.S. gold medal winners through the expansion process: forwards Britta Curl-Salemme and Hannah Bilka, and defender Cayla Barnes. Knight will also be reunited with Detroit’s newly hired head coach Josh Sciba. who previously served as an assistant on the U.S. Olympic team.
On the ice, Knight is coming off a season defined by impact and missed time. She finished last season with five goals and 14 points in 22 games, missing the final two months of the season with a lower-body injury. A year earlier, she tied for the league lead with 29 points—15 goals and 14 assists.
Her overall PWHL track record is built to last: she ranks 12th in the league with 54 career points (26 goals, 28 assists) in 76 games.
The trade also caps an especially crowded stretch in Knight’s life beyond the rink. A day before winning gold, she became engaged to American speedskater Brittany Bowe. In Milan. Knight’s goal against Canada was the 15th and the 33rd points of her Olympic career. setting U.S. records for both categories.
Knight has won two Olympic gold and three silver medals since making her Team USA debut at the 2007 world championships. At the worlds, she has won 10 gold medals and holds career tournament records for goals (67), assists (53) and points (120).
For Detroit, the arrival of a centerpiece player like Knight comes with more than star power. The league’s expansion rules have already shaped her route—protecting some players in Seattle. using a foundational slot in Detroit. and leaving Las Vegas ready to act when the time came. Now the next step is calendar-driven: the trade freeze lifting on June 16, and then the draft the following day.
It’s a tight window for a move that, for Knight, has been anything but routine.
Hilary Knight PWHL Detroit Las Vegas sign-and-trade expansion draft trade freeze June 16 Seattle Torrent foundational contract Josh Sciba Jesse Compher Daryl Watts Alex Carpenter Anna Wilgren Hannah Murphy Britta Curl-Salemme Hannah Bilka Cayla Barnes
Wait what, June 16 freeze like… they can’t trade till then?? wild.
I don’t even follow PWHL that much but Hilary Knight to Detroit sounds like a big deal. Signing then immediately getting traded sounds kinda backwards though?
So she signs with Las Vegas first and then Detroit gets her for their first-round pick? That’s like paying yourself with extra steps lol. Also “foundational contract”?? sounds like a cap gymnastics thing.
This is confusing as heck because it says no end date but also trade freeze and paperwork. So is she technically already on Detroit or not till after the draft? And wasn’t she just in Seattle… how many teams does one person need to be “closer” to Idaho? I guess Chicago-area town is the goal.