Hilary Knight heads to Detroit in sign-and-trade for first-round pick
Hilary Knight is heading to Detroit in a sign-and-trade that sends Las Vegas a first-round pick back the other way. The move gives Detroit the player it had been linked to since the opening day of Phase 2 signing and settles one of the league’s most closely watched expansion roster situations.
Knight was believed to have agreed to a contract with Detroit, then was informed she would be assigned to Las Vegas. She had already committed herself to Detroit before that assignment, and the final resolution now lands her where she had been expected to go.
Detroit and Las Vegas
The trade return is straightforward: Las Vegas gets Detroit’s first-round pick. That pick cannot be traded until June 16, which means the deal works within the league’s draft rules rather than around them.
For Las Vegas, Knight also filled a roster requirement. PWHL expansion rules say teams must have five players under contract at the end of Phase Two, and Las Vegas would not have reached that mark without her. The move therefore clears one piece of roster construction while sending a future selection back to Detroit.
Knight’s PWHL track
Knight’s value to an expansion club is easy to measure in points and experience. She tied for the PWHL scoring lead in 2024-25 with 29 points in 30 games while captaining the Boston Fleet, and last season she signed in expansion with the Seattle Torrent and scored 14 points in 22 games.
She has also carried captaincy duties in each of those stops. Knight was the inaugural captain for both Boston and Seattle, a detail that made her one of the league’s central roster targets as expansion planning unfolded.
Timing around Phase One
The timing explains why the move took so long to settle. Multiple sources within the PWHL said players were being contacted to consider moving to expansion teams before the opening of Phase One, and Knight may have been waiting for a resolution on her desire to play in Detroit until 12pm ET on June 9.
A member of the Seattle Torrent roster said Knight had told those close to her she was going to Detroit. The issue in Detroit stemmed from the timing of Las Vegas’ Expansion Franchise Offer and Detroit’s, with Knight informed she would be assigned to Las Vegas after she had already lined herself up for Detroit.
The deal now puts one of the league’s top scorers and most decorated players where she was expected to land, while Las Vegas gets a first-round asset it can use once draft-pick trading opens. Knight arrives in Detroit with two Olympic gold medals, three silver medals, 10 World Championship gold medals and five silver medals, and the roster shuffle leaves both expansion teams with the immediate task of building around rules that are still unfolding.
