While the PWHL is stacked with talent, one specific name jumped to the top of everyone’s mind when the Vancouver and Seattle expansion teams were announced: Hilary Knight. The former Boston Fleet captain agreed to a one-year deal with Seattle and became the first ever player on the team. How does such a veteran player feel about having that first ever player spot? It was the first question asked, and here was her response:
Building on Past Experiences
Knight is no stranger to firsts. She was one of the first three players to sign with the Boston Fleet during the PWHL’s inaugural season, and, during her two seasons there, racked up 40 points in 54 regular-season games. Will there be similarities in coming into another new team? “There's two parts to it, right?” Knight said. “There's the human component, and once you get the move down and you get settled and you figure out where your spots are, you feel a little bit more comfortable in your space.”
Even before the record button was pressed on this interview, there was conversation in the group about the importance of finding your space in the city. The hope is for home to be that source of stability, especially with a job that takes these players on the road so often. “That's something I'm really looking forward to getting started with because it took me a while to get resettled in Boston,” Knight said. “Then hoping from the performance standpoint just continuing to stay healthy and be ready for the season.”
Success, in all areas of life, comes back to creating that cozy home environment for Knight, especially when there’s such a dichotomy between that and the busy schedule of a professional hockey player. “On the flip side, you have to create a good environment where you feel safe and you feel at home and that also blends into the ice piece,” Knight said. “It's just getting here and getting settled and hanging stuff up on the walls. It's the little things. I'd say a big thing for me that I just love to do, especially when I am coming home, is just hanging out with my dog- just going for a little dog walk. It's just the smallest things that just ground you and just bring you back. I'm trying not to be on my phone when I'm walking. I'm totally immersed in that one task I'm doing so I think that's super helpful.”
Many of the PWHL Seattle players, including Knight, have experience starting a brand-new PWHL team. She plans to use that knowledge and understanding from those first two seasons to help build a strong, new Seattle team. “Taking what we've learned, in all of us who have been a part of these inaugural seasons, and trying to cut that learning curve, so it doesn't take us as long to build that culture and unify the group,” Knight said. “Not saying it took long. It just was a process because everything was first, and it's new. There's so many things you need to do that are now on your plate. You don't just show up to the rink and play hockey. Just finding that delicate balance of [being] involved in the community, and then also taking care of the checks and balances of the on-ice piece as well, and coming together as a group.”
Balancing an Olympic Year
To add to an already challenging season, 2026 marks a Winter Olympic year. Knight spoke a bit about how to find that balance without burning out. “Every time we break with the league, we're going with our national team, so it's going to be an extremely demanding- emotionally and physically- season,” Knight said. “Just going into that, preparing that, and putting guard rails around yourself of where you can extend, where you can't, is going to be really critical and sort of a game of attrition in many ways. But really excited about the opportunity, with the challenge.”
Knight knows the challenges that come from the dual focus of a season like the one coming up. “The hardest thing will just be we've got two teams. You've got the pro season, and we have to galvanize and come together, and we'll have more touch points,” Knight said. “Then, with the US team, we have less touch points than we usually do in Olympic year, so it's going to be staying connected. You have these two groups that you need to make sure are continuing to trend in the right direction from a chemistry standpoint. What makes it easy is both groups have great people and really strong women, so I think that will take care of itself.”
The cornerstone of sports truly revolves around having a healthy mindset. That’s particularly true for the PWHL players when this season is going to be so busy. Every player has their own tactics to keep mental health at the forefront. “I write things down and then kind of mentally compartmentalize and try to figure out spaces for things and really take moments on a daily basis to kind of check my battery- can I spend energy on that?” Knight said. “But always the main thing has to be the ice piece, and that's something I've always been passionate about, and I think when you take care of that, you tend to feel better about the other pieces.”
Settling Into Seattle
The Inaugural Player Media Tour wasn’t the first trip to Seattle for the Sun Valley, ID native, but this trip felt different for Knight. “It's going to be so much fun, and you can't go wrong if you've got great people,” Knight said about this upcoming season. “The city is amazing. The fan support we've already felt. We were here as sort of visitors, and now we're here and this is our home. Going to the [Seattle] Storm game last night- it's just incredible that support. I feel like we're in a really good spot.”
This media tour was a chance for a few of the PWHL Seattle players to see the city and spend time together. “It's great. It was so bizarre, the first two times I've been here because we do all the touristy things we're like, ‘Oh, this is great, and I don’t know when I’ll come back, but this is a great city, a great state,’” said Knight. “We're here now, doing them similarly again, and I'm like, ‘No, this is our home.’ We were walking through the tunnel in Climate Pledge last night doing a funny video, but we're like ‘This is our tunnel. This is our home tunnel. This is so cool. This is our building.’ Really feeling that sense of pride. This is this is home for us, and that's exciting.”
The Impact of the Takeover Tour
Fans in Seattle were thrilled to see Knight play in the city last season during the Takeover Tour. She described the experience as “unbelievable,” and had a lot of praise for the event. “It's interesting because, in many ways, hockey is still a very niche sport in the United States,” Knight said. “When you get a crowd that's as loud as the one we have in Climate Pledge, it's incredible, and you really appreciate it. Whether it was a Rivalry [Series] or the Takeover Tour, you could barely hear anything that was going on the ice, which is awesome. You just feel a sense of that community. It just really brings you back to the days when you started, and you just feel connected to people in a different way. That's something that's so special about Seattle specifically.”
The Takeover Tour is a fantastic way to introduce professional women’s hockey to new markets. The impact it’s had so far is noticeable and important. “I think it's a unique opportunity for us to get introduced to people who might not be familiar with hockey, who are first time fans, or who are die-hard fans who don't necessarily have access to us, because they might be in non-traditional markets or a market that we just haven't explored yet,” Knight said. “From a data side, the league is probably grabbing data of where the next moves are and how that works and how to grow an organic fan base. I think there's so many great things that come from Takeover Tours. It's just a fun and unique way to sort of barnstorm across North America.”
The Tour highlighted the passion and enthusiasm Seattle has for women’s sports. One of the statements made in the success of this tour is that women’s sports should be in these conversations, in these buildings, and have these same resources. “Even with the NHL Journey- the Kraken- the intention that went behind every single thing, the amount of lead up time, and just the spaces that are created. For us to have, and be a part of that space, and have a space that's created for us, in many ways, is unique,” Knight said. “We don't necessarily always have that on women's side. Then to be in the conversations with all these other successful women's pro sports teams- the pressure's on, but it's great.”
With Seattle being the first city to have all three women’s professional sports leagues in the WNBA, NWSL, and now the PWHL, the conversation around women’s sports is amplified even further. “We are arriving to a very well-storied legacy of women’s pro sports which is exciting,” said Knight. “The crossover is incredible. We met some NWSL players last night and already it feels like this awesome ecosphere of awesome women. It’s cool to be involved in those conversations. For so long we’ve tried to have crossover and it hasn’t necessarily worked. Now, where we are with the time and world, it makes sense. Everything feels aligning in the right way.”
Getting to Know Knight’s Style of Play and Leadership
Knight is a well-known player, but Seattle is going to have a lot of new fans. What can they expect from her when she’s taking a shift? “I just like to bring a presence every time on the ice,” Knight said. “I like to have a shift where you know I'm on the ice. Whether that's finishing a shot, scoring goals, or making a defensive play, I just like to be responsible in all three zones, a reliable forward with great upside from a scoring potential and offensive potential.”
Seattle fans assume Knight will step back into the role of captain to be the first of this new team. “I've never thought of it as a decision,” Knight said. “It's one of those things- you receive the honor, or you don't. A lot of things have to align in the best way. It’s incredibly demanding, but also honorable position. I would be elated to even be considered for something like that. We’ll see how things shake out, but that would be definitely something super special.”
Whether she has the official title or not, Knight’s veteran presence will be invaluable. “I grew up in the U.S. program, so I, firsthand, experienced how aging through a program works and got to have awesome role models take me under their wing and get me up to speed with things,” Knight said. “Even if it's the smallest thing it's so impactful, and it just does wonders for someone who's younger. Experiencing this league now for two years, how hard the jump is from the collegiate level to this, and it takes time. To be there and to be a support system for some of the younger players is going to be important. We have good days. We have bad days. I've got other veteran teammates who you just lean on each other, and you just also have to have those touch points as well.”
Knight on the PWHL’s Impact on Young Players
There’s a whole new generation of girls who now see professional hockey as a potential option for them. The influence the PWHL has is something Knight doesn’t take for granted. “It's surreal to be honest, because, for so many years, we needed this professionally. We need the programming, the resources, all the things that go into one successful professional player. We needed all that for all the players,” Knight said. “There was this huge gap for so many years, and to now sit on the bench or look out during a TV timeout and you see jerseys, young faces, older faces just there championing your club is just so cool. It's this full circle thing of we're finally here. Granted, we wanted it to happen decades ago, but it's happening."
The fan experience starts well before the puck even drops. “I just know what that small moment, that touch point, can do for a person and to be able to do that through sport is just so special. It's really cool,” Knight said. “I love warm-ups and just palling around and seeing the signs and just everyone's there just excited to be there- whatever capacity that is- and it's just really encouraging for where the sport can go.”
Knight signed a one-year agreement, but she wants to have an impact on Seattle, the team, and the league well beyond this first year. “I'm honestly ecstatic to be here. I can't express that enough how happy, how excited. Genuinely cannot wait for puck drop. Can't wait to get into the city full-time and call this home. Yes, I have moved around a lot, but I want this to be home. I want to build something substantial here, and I want to be a part of it so badly, and so I'm really looking forward to that opportunity.”