PWHL Detroit expansion team general manager Manon Rheaume had plenty of praise for Hilary Knight as one of women’s hockey’s biggest stars.
What Rheaume couldn’t yet discuss on Tuesday was the five-time U.S. Olympian’s pending arrival in the Motor City.
“Hilary Knight is one of the most accomplished players in hockey, and I have so much respect for what (she’s done) for the game,” Rheaume said during a Zoom conference call with PWHL reporters. “But at this
point, she’s under contract with another team.”
For now.
Rheaume spoke shortly after Knight signed a one-year foundational contract offer with the PWHL’s expansion team in Las Vegas. This was the first step in a sign-and-trade agreement that will land the 36-year-old Knight in Detroit.
A person with knowledge of the details told The Associated Press of the trade agreement on Monday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the trade.
The person said Las Vegas will acquire Detroit’s first-round draft pick when the deal becomes official once the PWHL’s trade freeze lifts on June 16, a day before the draft.
Knight’s signing closed Phase 2 of the league’s expansion signing process in which all four new teams each added their first five players.
Rheaume revealed Knight was one of the players the team interviewed in a virtual session during the expansion process.
Las Vegas GM Dominique DiDia declined to address the trade, while saying she is confident in her expansion team-building strategy.
“With Vegas, we’re evaluating every avenue available to build a sustainable contender,” DiDia said. “And balancing proven talent with opportunities to add young players and future assets is what we’re working through.”
Las Vegas gains a valuable asset by adding a first-round pick in a draft stocked with high-end talent. The draft class is led by five Olympic gold medal-winning U.S. national team members, including defender Caroline Harvey and defender/forward Laila Edwards.
The PWHL has yet to set the draft order, with the exception of Vancouver picking first.
For Knight, the foundational contract guarantees her making at least $100,000 next season. She made $106,090 last year.
Knight is on the move for a second straight PWHL offseason. She spent her first two PWHL seasons in Boston, before signing with the expansion Seattle Torrent.
Knight captained the United States to a gold-medal victory at the Milan Cortina Games in February. Though Knight said the Olympics would be her last, she planned on continuing her pro career.
Knight finished last season with five goals and 14 points in 22 games with Seattle, while missing the final two months with a lower-body injury. A year earlier, she finished tied for the league lead with 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists).
DiDia said she is finalizing an agreement to hire Kim Weiss to coach Las Vegas. The 37-year-old Weiss just completed her first season as an assistant with the Colorado Eagles. The team lost Game 7 of the American Hockey League Western Conference finals to Chicago on Monday.
Weiss is the the second woman to be a full-time assistant in the NHL or AHL, joining now-former Seattle Kraken assistant Jessica Campbell.
DiDia and Weiss were teammates at Trinity College, with Weiss eventually becoming an assistant coach for the Connecticut-based school’s men’s team.
She becomes the 12-team PWHL’s third female head coach, with Toronto and Seattle having yet to fill their vacancies.
The PWHL’s third phase of expansion opens Wednesday, with the four new teams allowed to sign up to three players on expiring contracts. The eight existing teams can also re-sign or protect three additional players after protecting three in Phase 2.
The PWHL announced six players received but declined to sign expansion offers during Phase 2. They were forwards Susanna Tapani (Boston), Grace Zumwinkle (Minnesota), Julia Gosling (Seattle) and Vancouver teammates Izzy Daniel and Jenn Gardiner, and Toronto defender Kali Flanagan.
All six are required to sign with any team by Friday.
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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey
