A trade sending Hilary Knight to PWHL Detroit from PWHL Las Vegas is perhaps the worst kept secret in women's hockey right now, but neither Detroit nor Las Vegas' new general managers were willing to comment directly on the deal.
It didn't take long for the elephant in the room to be addressed during Manon Rhéaume and Dominique DiDia's first press availability since the PWHL Detroit and PWHL Las Vegas general managers secured their five inaugural signings, and agreed, according to multiple sources and reports, on a trade to send Hilary Knight from Las Vegas to Detroit.
Neither general manager offered a direct comment on the forthcoming trade which due to PWHL expansion rules cannot occur until after Phase 4, as all expansion teams must exit Phase 4 with 10 signed players, nor until June 16 when draft picks are eligible to be traded. The reported return for Knight is at least Detroit's first round pick.
"I can say that Hilary Knight is one of the most accomplished players in hockey and I have so much respect for what she did for the game of hockey," said Rhéaume. "But at this point she's under contract with another team, so I'm not going to speak more than this."
DiDia, who was the general manager stuck with giving her EFO to Knight only to learn the former Seattle Torrent and Boston Fleet captain would not play in Las Vegas, and instead was aiming to honor the commitment she made to sign in Detroit. The Hockey News was told by a member of Seattle's 2025-26 roster, as well as separate American national team member from USA's gold medal winning Olympic roster that Knight had informed those close to her she intended to play for Detroit.
"Expansion presents unique challenges and opportunities that we're all working through," said DiDia. "With Vegas we're examining every avenue available to build a sustainable contender that is going to last in Vegas and balancing proven talent with opportunities to add young players and future assets is what we're working through. I can't comment on any potential transactions, but I'm confident in the strategy as we build our team."
Detroit did admit that they made the same presentation to Hilary Knight that they made to other potential players.
"We had a chance to do a presentation for Hilary the same way we did presentation for several players," said Rhéaume. "We spent pretty much our whole coaching staff and team all day in the time that we were allowed to talk to players doing our presentation online, so this is a time we had conversations with Hilary just repesenting really what we were all about, our vision and how we see this team to come together, our core values, and that's the conversation we had with her."
Knight's signing with PWHL Las Vegas was officially announced Tuesday morning. The trade was first reported by The Associated Press on Monday. The Hockey News also provided context on how the process unfolded.
Knight's trade is likely to be announced in Detroit at the June 16 Awards.