Actions

Knight signs 1-year contract with PWHL expansion Las Vegas. Next stop Detroit in sign-and-trade deal

Carlos Osorio/AP

United States forward Hilary Knight skates during the first period of a IIHF Women's World Championship semifinal hockey tournament game against Germany, Thursday, April 6, 2017, in Plymouth, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

By: John Wawrow

Posted

and last updated

First stop: Las Vegas. Next stop: Detroit.

Hilary Knight signed a one-year foundational contract offer with the PWHL’s expansion team in Las Vegas on Tuesday in the first step that will eventually land the five-time U.S. Olympian in the Motor City.

Las Vegas announced the signing, without revealing the team reaching a sign-and-trade agreement to send the 36-year-old Knight to fellow expansion team 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 in a deal that won’t be official until the PWHL’s trade freeze lifts on June 16, a day before the draft. Knight's signing closes Phase 2 of the league's expansion signing process in which all four new teams added their first five players.

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. After spending her first two PWHL seasons in Boston, she left the Fleet to sign with t he 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 is coming off captaining the United States to a gold-medal victory at the Milan Cortina Games in February, in which Knight deflected in the championship game-tying goal late in the third period of a 2-1 overtime win against Canada.

Though Knight said the Olympics in Milan 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). Overall, she ranks 12th in the PWHL with 54 career points (26 goals, 28 assists) in 76 games.