As PWHL Detroit continues to fill in its roster, general manager Manon Rhéaume has a pretty clear idea of the team she’s creating and the philosophies she wants to build on.
“We want to build a team that’s going to be relentless,” she told The Ice Garden. “A team that, every day, is going to be on the ice to get better, and every game they’re going to make it hard for the other team. We want a team that’s going to be fast.”
“The way [we’re] built right now, we’re strong, really strong offensively. We want to play fast. That’s the idea of our team. More importantly is work ethic; we want a team that’s going to be hard to play against,” Rhéaume added.
Watts makes history
The first player Rhéaume signed to the PWHL Detroit roster was forward Daryl Watts. Watts signed an expansion foundational offer for an historic four-year contract and is an offensive juggernaut to build a team around.
“She’s a very skilled player,” Rhéaume said. “Having spent four years with the [NHL’s Los Angeles Kings], I got to talk to a few people who were part of making the decisions. One of the [pieces of] advice they said was, ‘You have to find some really good skilled players when they’re available, those impact players.’”
Watts had 19 points (10-9) in 27 games with the Toronto Sceptres last season. She has 65 points in 85 career PWHL games.
“Obviously, we felt like she would [make] an impact,” Rhéaume added. “Very skilled. Someone that can score. To start with that player, and the fact that she wanted to be here and signed for four years — you can really start building something around a player like that when the player is willing to commit for four years. That gives us four years to make that plan.”
Good knight, Detroit
An early addition to the PWHL Detroit roster was forward Hilary Knight. Knight was part of a reported sign-and-trade deal with PWHL Las Vegas. Detroit acquired the 37-year-old in exchange for the third-overall draft pick, which Las Vegas used to select Tessa Janecke.
“One thing we said with the expansion teams last year was, they have a lot of great players, but it’s really hard sometimes when you have players coming from different teams,” Rhéaume said. “I think that someone with leadership like Hilary Knight is going to help you bring that team together sooner rather than later in the season.”
“It’s not only her leadership, but for me, when you have conversations with her, after everything she’s accomplished, one of her biggest things [is that] she wants to continue to get better and she wants to win,” Rhéaume added. “She’s a great leader. You put all this together with a group of players that is starting in a new franchise like Detroit, which is such a big hockey town. That was a key piece for us to have some success earlier, bringing people together.”
Knight signed a two-year extension through the 2028-29 season with Detroit, keeping her in the fold for the first three years of the franchise’s existence. She registered 14 points in 22 games with the Seattle Torrent last season and has 54 points in 84 career PWHL games.
Olympic experience breeds chemistry
Along with Knight, PWHL Detroit has signed several members of the U.S. women’s national team, including defender Cayla Barnes and forward Hannah Bilka. While building a team from scratch, having a collection of players who have already played together will help build chemistry.
“Not only did they play together, but going through the Olympics and winning the gold medal, but in a way where they dominated the tournament — those games are emotional,” Rhéaume said. “During the game, it’s intense and hard. When you win the gold medal, it [doesn’t] come easy. That was not an easy one to win, and it gets you closer and brings you experience to be in those moments.”
“To me, those moments can make the different in the season — to learn how to play in a tight game, in a big game. To be able to control the emotion and knowing that, yeah, you can be dominating a tournament like they did, but it doesn’t matter. You need to win the last game,” she added. “That experience is definitely going to help the team. Everyone’s going to have some ups and downs; it’s not if you’re going to have some — it’s how you’re going to end all the ups and downs. Those women [with] that experience are going to be helpful to get through our downs.”
(Note: One of PWHL Detroit’s foundational signings was forward Britta Curl-Salemme. Curl-Salemme was also a member of the Olympic team. She has a track record of questionable hits/plays and suspensions in her brief PWHL career. She has also historically expressed support for bigotry, including transphobia, and is a current partner with an organization that advocates to exclude trans women from women’s sports. Since Rhéaume previously spoke to reporters about her decision to sign Curl-Salemme — whether or not the answer was a good one — I elected not to address it again at this time.)
Signing Taylor Girard
Another early addition for PWHL Detroit was forward Taylor Girard, from nearby Macomb, Michigan. Girard spent last season with the New York Sirens and registered eight points, including seven goals, in 17 games. She sustained a season-ending lower-body injury on March 15.
Rhéaume expects Girard will be ready for the start of the new season.
“From what I gather so far, I think she’s going to be ready to go at the beginning of the season,” Rhéaume said. “Everything is progressing the right way. I’m not a doctor, so I’m not going to speculate …, but from my understanding, everything is moving in the right direction.”
“She learned a lot about going through adversity and injury,” Rhéaume added. “It’s never easy to deal with, but often that makes you stronger. For her to have the chance to come back here and play in her hometown, and be ready to go, it’s going to be big for our team.”
The best available player
Since Rhéaume spoke to The Ice Garden, she has signed two draft picks for the upcoming season. Goaltender Andrea Brändli signed a three-year deal, while defender Casey Borgiel signed a one-year contract. Both were announced on August 14.
Rhéaume said the team will continue to sign players but also keep several roster spots open heading into training camp.
“That’s important for us, to go through this whole process,” she said. “We’ll find some players prior to camp, and we’re also going to have roster spots and competition at camp. It’s going to be interesting.”
“My goal at first was to try to get a goalie and defense and three forwards [in the expansion process], but then everybody was protecting their goaltender,” Rhéaume said. “It was a situation where we were trying to get the best available player, no matter what position. We had to go and sign some defense throughout all the different phases.”
Detroit’s first five signings ended up being three forwards and two defenders. During Phase 3 of expansion, Detroit added Sydney Bard and Taylor Girard. The team added Shiann Darkangelo, Ella Huber and Nina Jobst-Smith in Phase 4.
“We went to the draft without even one goalie signed, so that was a priority for us. Drafting Andrea as our first pick, we were excited with her experience,” Rhéaume said. “She was the best goalie at the Olympics at just 29 years old. She’s been playing pro hockey for years. At every world championship, she’s able to carry her team. That was a key pick for us, because that [was] the position we needed to fill.”
What’s next
Detroit now has 18 players under contract: nine forwards, seven defenders and two goalies. The team also has four unsigned draft picks in forwards MK O’Brien, Kyla Josifovic, Sena Catterall and Georgia Schiff.
“We’ll just continue to see how our draft picks are going to do at camp. Between our draft picks and invited players, we’re going to have some competition,” Rhéaume said. “We’re going to continue to build our team and look at every position. We’re going to need different styles of players to make it a team. That’s what we’re going to see at training camp.”
