6 potential free agents who could sign on Detroit PWHL expansion team
6 potential free agents who could sign on Detroit PWHL expansion team
Ryan Ford, Detroit Free PressThu, May 7, 2026 at 9:11 AM UTC
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It’s official: The Professional Women’s Hockey League is coming to Detroit.
The PWHL is adding as many as four teams, including one that will play at Little Caesars Arena, to the eight established franchises for the 2026-27 season, the league announced on Wednesday, May 6. The league’s fourth season is slated to start in November.
But there are a lot of changes set to come once the league finishes its third campaign – the top four teams are competing for the Walter Cup, with the playoffs set to wrap up in late May. Once they do, the PWHL’s largest run of free agency will begin, with many of the league’s original three-year deals set to expire. Rather than have an expansion draft, the new franchises will fill their rosters primarily with free agents, per The Athletic, in a potentially complicated process.
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Despite no Division I college hockey teams in the state of Michigan, the Great Lakes State has produced plenty of talent on PWHL rosters, including Olympic star Megan Keller, from Farmington. Keller is still under contract with the Boston Fleet through the 2027-28 season, but there are several other Michiganders who could be on the move.
They could join some other stars with new teams, as well. Here are six potential inaugural members of Detroit’s PWHL roster:
Hilary Knight, forward
We’ll start with arguably the biggest name … and the most unlikely. The grand dame of Team USA – no American woman has more career Olympic goals or points – spent last season with the expansion Seattle Torrent, though a torn knee ligament (which she played through in Milan) cut her season in half. Knight will be 37 when the 2026-27 season starts, but she still has her scoring touch, with five goals and nine assists in 22 games for the Torrent, including two goals and two assists in eight games after returning from the MCL tear. She’s unlikely to leave Seattle, however, having stated she wants to play two more seasons there.
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Abby Roque, forward
Abby Roque of New York Sirens takes the puck during the overtime period against the Minnesota Frost at Prudential Center on Jan. 15, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. The New York Sirens defeated the Minnesota Frost, 5-4, in a shootout.
The Sault Ste. Marie native got her start playing on the Soo boys’ high school team before starring at Wisconsin and winning Olympic silver with the 2022 U.S. team (and becoming the first Indigenous player to make the U.S. squad). Roque didn’t make Team USA for the 2026 Games, but lit up the scoreboard for the Montreal Victoire, tying for the team lead in points with 22 (eight goals, 14 assists in 29 games) and finishing 10th in the league.
Kendall Coyne Schofield, forward
Coyne Schofield has been one of the biggest names in the women’s game for more than a decade, with four Olympic medals for Team USA (including gold in 2018 and 2026). She’s also been something of a crossover star, making history with her turn in the NHL’s All-Star weekend in 2019, in which she finished seventh (out of eight) in the “fastest skater” competition. She has also served as a broadcaster on NHL games. Her skills are still sharp on the ice, though; the 33-year-old tied for fifth in scoring (23 points, including 12 goals, in just 23 games). Like Knight, she’s also unlikely to leave her PWHL squad, as she has been the only captain in Minnesota Frost history.
Mellissa Channell-Watkins, defense
Mellissa Channell-Watkins of the Minnesota Frost kisses the Walter Cup after the Minnesota Frost defeated the Ottawa Charge 2-1 to win the Championship at Xcel Energy Center on May 26, 2025 in St Paul, Minnesota.
A Washington native, Channell-Watkins grew up in Plymouth and starred for the Detroit Little Caesars juniors squad before finishing high school in Canada and then starring at Wisconsin. She has been at her best in the PWHL playoffs, winning a pair of titles with the Frost. That included an epic performance in Minnesota’s 2024 title-clinching Game 5 win over Keller and Boston in which she had three assists – one more than she had during the entire 2023-24 regular season. The 2025 playoffs brought a similar step up; after posting a goal and six assists in 29 regular-season games, she had a goal and four assists in eight playoff games. Unfortunately for the 31-year-old’s run of playoff heroics, she spent this season with the expansion Vancouver Goldeneyes, who finished seven points out of the fourth and final playoff spot.
Sarah Nurse, forward
Sarah Nurse of the Vancouver Goldeneyes waves to fans after being named the first star of the game against the Seattle Torrent in PWHL action at Pacific Coliseum on Nov. 21, 2025 in Vancouver, Canada.
A longtime star for Team Canada – she was the first Black woman to win Olympic hockey gold (in 2022) and made her third Olympic appearance in the 2026 Games (winning silver) – the Wisconsin alum was one of the early stars of the PWHL. She also was the first woman to make the cover of an EA Sports NHL game, sharing the “NHL 23” space in 2022 with the NHL’s Trevor Zegras. Nurse put up 11 goals and 12 assists while leading the Toronto Sceptres to the regular-season title in the league’s inaugural season. More recently, she posted nine goals and six assists in 19 games with the Goldeneyes. (She also comes from a ridiculously talented family of athletes, with cousins Darnell Nurse starring in the NHL and Kia Nurse playing in the WNBA. Her aunt, Raquel-Ann Nurse, played basketball at Syracuse and is married to Donovan McNabb.)
Taylor Girard, forward
The youngest player on our list, at 27, took an unconventional route from Macomb Township to pro hockey; Girard played three years at Lindenwood, then transferred to Quinnipiac for two more seasons before joining the Premier Hockey League, which went under in 2023. Since joining the PWHL, her scoring touch has been sporadic – just 12 goals in 63 games – during multiple seasons derailed by injuries. That includes the most recent campaign with the New York Sirens, as she had seven goals and an assist in 17 games – featuring the second natural hat trick in PWHL history, and the first in a single period – before a lower-body injury in March ended her season.
Ryan Ford is deputy sports editor for the Free Press and has been with Freep Sports since January 2006. Contact him at rford@freepress.com or follow him on X @theford and on BlueSky at @theford.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit PWHL expansion team: 6 potential free agents who could sign
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