Not defending Hilary Knight was ‘hardest resolution’ GM needed to make

PWHL

“I had to strike a balance between performance, longevity, and salary cap.”

By Emma Healy, The Boston Globe

June 11, 2025 | 9:18 AM

2 minutes to read

The PWHL expansion format allowed the original six teams to each protect only three players at the start of an exclusive signing period, which meant Fleet general manager Danielle Marmer would have to make some tough decisions.

Chief among those was whether to protect forward Hilary Knight, the franchise’s inaugural captain and a finalist for this year’s MVP award, or to focus on the future of the franchise and protect Alina Müller.

In the end, Marmer chose the youth route, and Seattle made Knight the first player on its roster by signing her to a one-year deal.

“Not protecting Hilary Knight was the hardest decision that I made in my professional career to date,” Marmer said Tuesday.

Knight, 35, is one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport. In addition to tying for the league lead in points this season (29 in 30 games), she has won four Olympic and 15 World Championship medals with Team USA, and she holds the World Championship records for goals, assists, and points.

She announced in May she plans to make the 2026 Olympics her fifth and final Games, and she may be closing in on the end of her career.

Müller, meanwhile, is 27 and has a long career ahead of her.

“I had to strike a balance between performance, longevity, and salary cap,” Marmer said. “I think Alina is somebody who it doesn’t matter who we surround her with or what she has to work with, she’s going to find a way to do a really nice job and be productive and be impactful.”

In addition to Müller, Marmer protected defender Megan Keller and goaltender Aerin Frankel. Teams received one additional protection after the expansion teams had poached two of their players, and Marmer used hers on Shay Maloney.

Between the exclusive signing period and the expansion draft on Monday night, Boston lost Knight, forward Hannah Bilka, and defender Emily Brown to Seattle, while Vancouver selected defender Sydney Bard.

The expansion process continues with free agency and the PWHL entry draft on June 24, but Vancouver and Seattle’s initial 12-player rosters are set.

By allowing teams to protect only three players initially and four overall, PWHL executives hoped to make the expansion teams competitive in their first year. But critics of the process have argued that it put existing teams at a disadvantage and turned the expansion teams into “super teams.”

When asked about the criticism, Marmer deflected.

“I’m not sure I’m in a place to be able to comment on if it was the right format or how we need to change it, but I’m certain that the league and everybody involved is going to spend some time seeing how things play out and making any adjustments for potential future drafts that need to be adjusted,” Marmer said.

Despite losing four top players, Marmer was optimistic about how expansion will affect the remaining players on her roster.

“With change comes opportunity, and there are going to be players who are going to rise to the occasion and step up in a way that they maybe wouldn’t have had the opportunity to had some of these players remained in our market,” Marmer said. “I’m really excited to see who it is and how it goes and how those players show up and maybe take on some of that responsibility.”