Hilary Knight signs one-year deal with PWHL Seattle
By Silvia Leija-Rosas, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - PWHL Seattle has made a historic move with its first official signing in franchise history. Hilary Knight, one of the most decorated players in women’s hockey history, has signed to a one-year contract after being left unprotected by the Boston Fleet during the league’s exclusive signing window. The news of Knight’s signing is the first official move by Seattle, despite reports coming out hours before regarding the franchise reportedly coming to terms with Ottawa Charge forward Danielle Serdachny. There was plenty of speculation and hope from Seattle fans that Knight would land in the Emerald City following the news that the Boston Fleet had left her unprotected, and that hope now becomes joy with the news made official.
Team USA forward Hilary Knight during the teams 4-2 win over Team Canada in a Rivalry Series game at Climate Pledge Arena on November 20th, 2022. (Photos by Liv Lyons for Circling Seattle Sports)
As Fleet captain this past season, Knight recorded 15 goals and 14 assists, tying her for the league lead with 29 points. Knight’s goal total of 15 tied her for the second most in all of the PWHL, a big boost in production after some early struggles in her first year with the team. Her performance earned her co-winner honors for the PWHL Points Leader Award and finalist positions for both the 2025 Forward of the Year and Billie Jean King MVP awards. Overall with Boston, Knight has been the captain since joining the team as one of its three original signings ahead of their inaugural season. Over her two seasons with the Fleet, Knight has tallied 40 points (21G, 19A) in 54 regular-season games. Despite some production struggles during that inaugural season, Knight helped lead the Fleet (At the time, PWHL Boston) to the first ever Walter Cup where they fell to the Minnesota Frost (Then PWHL Minnesota).
Knight has a long list of accomplishments on the international stage, as she’s a four-time Olympic medalist (One gold, three silver) and 10-time IIHF Women’s World Championship gold medalist with five silver medals in that tournament. Knight is the IIHF Women’s World Championship tournament all-time leader in goals, assists, points while also holding the record for most Olympic games played by a U.S. women’s hockey player. Her incredibly impressive international career will come to an end after the 2026 Milan Winter Games, which will mark her fifth appearance in that tournament.
“Signing Hilary Knight was an absolute no-brainer - she’s the heartbeat of any team she joins. Her proven leadership and drive, the way she elevates everyone around her, those are qualities you can’t teach. Hilary’s not just a game-changer on the ice, she’s the kind of person who defines a culture, and we’re incredibly proud to have her as the first-ever player to join PWHL Seattle.”
A native of Sun Valley, Idaho, Knight’s return to the Pacific Northwest adds to Seattle’ significant women’s sports history, already etching her name with greats like Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe amongst many others. While the Reign and Storm have a history of incredible players in their respective franchise histories, with names like Jess Fishlock, Lu Barnes, Lauren Jackson, and Breanna Stewart among the legends in both teams, PWHL Seattle now gets to begin it’s line of team legends with one of the best players in hockey history.
Hilary is no stranger to Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, having played at her new PWHL home most recently during the Takeover Tour on January 5th, 2025 while also playing back in the Rivalry Series game on November 20th, 2022. Knight has a 2-0 record in her career at the venue, as USA won the Rivalry Series game against Canada by a final score of 4-2 and Boston won the Takeover Tour game against Montreal by a final score of 3-2 in the shootout. That Rivalry Series game was the more impressive of the two for Knight, as she recorded a three-point performance (Two goals, one assist) including the final two goals of the game for the USA.
“I’m incredibly proud to be part of bringing professional women’s hockey to the Pacific Northwest. Seattle holds a special place in my heart, and I’m beyond excited to join PWHL Seattle in such a storied sports city. I’m grateful to Meghan Turner for believing in me and bringing me on board as part of this new chapter. To my teammates, the staff, and the fans of Boston –– thank you. The Fleet wasn’t just a team, it was home. These past two seasons were some of the most meaningful of my career, and I’ll carry those memories with me forever.”
Knight is a massive acquisition for Seattle on numerous fronts, from name recognition to ability as well as her leadership. During her first official press conference as general manager of Seattle, Meghan Turner cited leadership as a characteristic that she’ll value heavily during this process of building the inaugural roster. Turner, who was previously the assistant general manager of the Fleet, knows perhaps better than anyone how important Knight’s leadership was to Boston through those first two seasons in franchise history and who better than Hilary to lead a new franchise that’s going to look to compete right away.
Something to keep an eye on is the fact that Knight signed on just a one-year standard player agreement, and the fact that her international career is ending next year. When it was announced by Hilary that the 2026 Milan Winter Games were her final international tournament, it was also mentioned that she still wanted to continue her PWHL career in pursuit of a Walter Cup. That was when she was in Boston and was still a concrete member of the Fleet, so it’ll be interesting to follow if those plans may change for her now that she has signed with Seattle. Several sources have indicated to Circling Seattle Sports that Knight was upset with the fact that she was left unprotected by the Fleet, and wanted to win the Walter Cup with Boston. While she had preferred to join Seattle over Vancouver after she was left unprotected, Hilary did not want to leave Boston in the first place.
Boston Fleet forward Hilary Knight during the teams 3-2 shootout victory over the Montréal Victoire during the Seattle stop of last seasons “PWHL Takeover Tour” on January 5th, 2025 at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Rio Giancarlo for Circling Seattle Sports)
Following the first day of the PWHL Exclusive signing window, Seattle has made two reported signings in forwards Danielle Serdachny (Ottawa Charge) and Hilary Knight (Boston Fleet), which leaves three spots open in this period if they choose to fill them. It’ll be interesting to see what Meghan Turner may have up her sleeve over the next few days as this window remains open, as Vancouver general manager Cara Gardner Morey has made four big signings already in this allotted period. There very well could be another big name on the edge of being signed and or made official, but it seems we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out more about that. Reminder about the Exclusive signing window: Expansion teams will be granted a five-day exclusive window to sign a maximum of five players. There is no required minimum number of players who must be signed during this window. Any unprotected player or any player on an expiring contract is eligible to be signed. The window is open from June 4th at 6AM PDT through June 8th at 5PM PDT.
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