Hilary Knight Traded from Las Vegas to Detroit in Sign-and-Trade for First-Round Pick
The 36-year-old forward completed the first step of a sign-and-trade that will send her to the PWHL expansion team in Detroit once the league's trade freeze lifts June 16.
ESPNHilary Knight signed a one-year foundational contract offer with the PWHL's expansion team in Las Vegas on Tuesday. The move is the first step of a sign-and-trade agreement that will send the 36-year-old forward to the league's expansion team in Detroit. Las Vegas announced the signing.
A person with knowledge of the details told The Associated Press on Monday that Las Vegas and Detroit had reached the trade agreement. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the trade. Under the agreement, Las Vegas will acquire Detroit's first-round draft pick.
The trade will not be official until the PWHL's trade freeze lifts on June 16, one day before the draft. Knight's signing closes Phase 2 of the league's expansion signing process. In that phase, all four new PWHL teams added their first five players.
The foundational contract guarantees Knight at least $100,000 next season. Knight spent her first two PWHL seasons in Boston before leaving the Fleet to sign with the expansion Seattle Torrent to be closer to her offseason home in Idaho. The move to Detroit brings her closer to her hometown of Chicago.
Knight captained the United States to a gold-medal victory at the Milan Cortina Games in February. She deflected in the championship game-tying goal late in the third period of a 2-1 overtime win against Canada. Knight said the Olympics in Milan would be her last.
She 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, recording 15 goals and 14 assists. Knight ranks 12th in the PWHL with 54 career points, 26 goals and 28 assists, in 76 games.
