The PWHL’s four newest teams have their first five players. During the second phase of expansion, general managers Manon Rhéaume of PWHL Detroit and Dominique DiDia of PWHL Las Vegas got to work building foundations for their new rosters.
Detroit
Players Signed
Detroit’s first addition was forward Daryl Watts, who was extended an Expansion Foundation Offer and signed to a four-year Standard Player Agreement on June 5th. Watts, 27, spent the last two seasons with the Toronto Sceptres after starting her PWHL career in Ottawa. She sits second in PWHL career goals with 32 and is tied for third in career points with 63. She was also part of the silver medal-winning 2026 Canadian Olympic women’s hockey team.
Later that day, Rhéaume followed up with a pair of players poached from the Seattle Torrent. Defender Cayla Barnes signed a three-year contract and forward Hannah Bilka agreed to a two-year contract. The former Boston College and Ohio State teammates and Team USA Olympic gold medalists are once again on the same roster. Bilka, 25, was a standout at the Olympics, but missed a lot of the 2025-26 PWHL season following an injury. Barnes, 27, helped step up for the struggling Torrent during the latter half of the season.
Next, Detroit inked a deal with Britta Curl-Salemme, signing the controversial forward to a three-year deal. After two seasons with the Minnesota Frost, Curl-Salemme, 26, has 23 career goals and 26 career assists over 58 regular-season games and 11 playoff matches.
With their last signing of Phase 2, Jesse Compher agreed to a three-year deal in Detroit. The 27-year-old forward comes off three seasons with the Sceptres, where she played in every regular season and playoff game and tallied 16 career goals and 19 career assists. For a fun piece of trivia, there are now two Comphers in “Hockeytown,” since Jesse’s brother J.T. plays for the NHL’s Red Wings.
What They Need Next
Defense. With Watts, Bilka, and Curl-Salemme, Rhéaume’s Detroit team is committing scoring goals. But with Barnes as the only defender and no goaltender, it’s a bold choice. Since goalies are a little more slippery to sign and draft, Detroit should focus on locking down defenders in the next phase. A signing who’s defensively responsible or complements Barnes should be high on the radar for the team in “Hockeytown.”
Also, a good PR department. Bringing on Curl-Salemme as one of their foundational players hasn’t sat well with many prospective Detroit fans on account of her documented transphobia and overly aggressive style of play. If PWHL Detroit wants to make itself at home in Motor City, it needs to prove that it cares about all of its fans. It’ll take some work off the ice to get there.
Las Vegas
Players Signed
Las Vegas got in the game late compared to the other teams, waiting until the evening of June 6th to announce their first signings. The first players in franchise history were a pair of defenders from the Minnesota Frost, Mae Batherson and Kendall Cooper. Both agreed to two-year contracts. Batherson, 25, and Cooper, 24, helped lead offense from the blueline for the Frost last season. Batherson had the opposite of a sophomore slump with 19 points in 2025-26, up from 3 points the season before. Cooper was tied for second in rookie scoring with 19 points and set a single-season record for assists by a defender with 17.
Vegas seems to like doing things in twos, since their next announcement two days later also involved two signings. On June 8th, defender Erin Ambrose and forward Hayley Scamurra signed with PWHL Las Vegas, with a two-year contract for Ambrose and a three-year deal for Scamurra. Both players are coming off a Walter Cup win with the Montréal Victoire. Ambrose, 32, was the 2024 PWHL Defender of the Year and tallied 37 points over three seasons with the Victoire. Scamurra, 31, played a key role in Montréal’s cup run and appeared in every 2025-26 regular-season game, with 34 career points to her name.
Lastly, on June 9, Las Vegas announced they had signed Hilary Knight to a one-year Standard Player Agreement after offering her an Expansion Foundation Offer. Knight, 36, has a resume that speaks for itself, so it makes sense that an expansion team wants her, but it’s not that simple. More on her signing later.
What They Need Next
Scoring talent. Three of Las Vegas’ first five signings were defenders, and Scamurra isn’t exactly known as a goal-scorer. Getting some offensive defenders is a good start, but Vegas could use a reliable forward for getting pucks in the net. That’s a hole DiDia could fill through the draft, depending on where Vegas lands in the order, or through additional signings.
Additionally, a solid goaltender would do Vegas some good. San Jose and Hamilton jumped on the goalie market early, picking up Corinne Schroeder from Seattle and Kayle Osborne from New York. While I think it was a good call not to use one of the first five signings on a netminder, locking down a goalie between signings and the draft would be a smart move. With the defensive focus DiDia seems to be constructing her team with, maybe Vegas doesn’t need a star starter. Instead, they could use a reliable tandem, and there are definitely options among free agents and the draft class.
The Hilary Knight of it all
The news of Knight’s signing with PWHL Las Vegas was officially announced after the Phase 2 deadline, though the league insists that the signing happened before that point. Even more complicated, reporting from the Associated Press on the evening of June 8th revealed that Knight is involved in a sign-and-trade where her eventual destination will be Detroit.
According to the AP article, Knight’s contract with Las Vegas counts as one of the initial five signings for the team, as well as their EFO, a binding contract guaranteeing her a salary of at least $100,000 a season. However, Knight wants to play in Detroit, and this expansion process was supposed to prioritize player choice. As such, the AP reported that when the trade freeze lifts on June 16th, a day before the PWHL draft, Detroit will get Knight, while Vegas gets Detroit’s first-round pick.
Is this allowed? Technically, yes, since the league seems to have provisionally approved it, but it’s a sketchy circumstance. When the trade goes through, it will be the first non-draft floor players-for-picks trade in the PWHL, a maneuver technically not allowed under league rules. Additionally, it seems to go against the purpose of the EFO, a binding contract to give expansion teams a chance to secure future franchise cornerstones. On the other hand, a second first-round draft pick in a draft class this top-heavy is certainly an advantage for Las Vegas, while Detroit gets a top-tier player going where she wants to go.
Next Steps
Phase 3 starts Wednesday, June 10th, at noon EST and goes until Friday, June 12th, at 3 PM EST. During this period, the existing eight teams have the opportunity to protect an additional three players, while the four expansion teams can sign three more players on expiring contracts. Protection lists must be submitted by 5 PM EST on Friday, June 12th.
If a player was given a Foundational Player Offer in Phase 2, they must now sign with a team in Phase 3. Those six players are:
- Izzy Daniel, F – Vancouver Goldeneyes
- Kali Flanagan, D — Toronto Sceptres
- Jenn Gardiner, F – Vancouver Goldeneyes
- Julia Gosling, F – Seattle Torrent
- Susanna Tapani, F – Boston Fleet
- Grace Zumwinkle, F – Minnesota Frost
With news already bubbling about the next round of signings and protections, we’ll just have to wait and see who else is bound for Detroit and Las Vegas.
