Hilary Knight, a five-time U.S. Olympian, is set to head into the Professional Women's Hockey League's expansion franchise in Detroit through a sign-and-trade agreement. 

Knight will first sign a foundational contract with the expansion Las Vegas franchise as part of Phase 2 of the league's expansion signing process with Las Vegas. And then trading her to Detroit in exchange for Detroit's first-round pick in next week's draft. 

Knight has been on the move for a second straight offseason in PWHL. After spending her first two PWHL seasons in Boston, she then joined the expansion Seattle Torrent last year to be closer to her offseason place in Idaho. 

Seattle was fully restricted to protecting only three players under the expansion rules. They ended up choosing to retain forward Alex Carpenter, defender Anna Wilgren, and goalie Hannah Murphy, leaving Knight available. 

Knight is a 36-year-old player who grew up in the Chicago area. This move towards Detroit brings her closer to home. The PWHL, which was North America's top professional women's hockey league, is now expanding to include Detroit and Las Vegas.

Veteran players like Knight hold a bigger value in expansions like this. This is because they lay a foundation for the younger players by drawing from their own experiences.

This deal won't be considered as an official one until the PWHL's trade freeze lifts on June 16, the day before the draft. There were no official statements from Knight, Detroit, or the league available at the time of reporting. 

But Knight's arrival in Detroit gives the team a boost into a more competitive opening-night roster. 

Hilary Knight clearly holds a lot of experience in moving around in these expansion teams. But it is important to remember that she joined Seattle just a year ago. Her long track record as a leader makes her an actual, practical choice for a team building itself from scratch.

Hilary Knight's Decorated International Career

In her fifth and final Winter Olympics game at the 2026 Milan Olympics, Knight closed her international career with a gold medal. She scored an important game-tying goal with just over two minutes left. This was during the gold medal game against Canada before Team USA won 2-1 in overtime. 

The goal was her 15th of her Olympic career, and this sets the U.S. women's record for career Olympic goals. She also finished as the all-time leading scorer in U.S. women's Olympic hockey history with 33 career points. 

Knight finishes her Olympic career with two gold medals and three silver medals across five Winter Games, from Vancouver 2010 through Milan 2026. 

Even beyond the Olympics, she has competed in 15 IIHF Women's World Championships, winning ten gold medals and five silvers, and holds the all-time scoring records for goals, assists, and points.

In 115 career games with Team USA across all international competition, Knight scored 81 goals and made 71 assists. This strong record places her easily at the top of the list.

For PWHL Detroit, acquiring a player of such a level in the team's first offseason clearly represents the organization's goals. 

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Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Ankita Yadav