The Professional Women’s Hockey League named Manon Rhéaume the general manager of PWHL Detroit on May 15, putting one of the most recognizable figures in women’s hockey in charge of building the expansion club before its first season.
Rhéaume, who will lead Detroit into its inaugural 2026–27 season, arrives after four seasons in Hockey Operations with the Los Angeles Kings and an 11-year tenure with the Little Caesars AAA Hockey Club. The league said she will help assemble the team’s hockey operations staff and build a roster through the 2026 PWHL Draft, scheduled for June 17 at Detroit’s Fox Theatre.
Jayna Hefford, a league executive, said Rhéaume brings “an unmatched hockey resume, a championship mindset, and a lifelong commitment to growing the women’s game,” and called her the right person to guide the new team. Rhéaume said she is “incredibly honored and excited” to join the league and help build something special in Detroit, adding that the city’s hockey tradition runs deep and its passion for the sport is “truly special.”
The appointment lands at a busy moment for the PWHL. Detroit was formally introduced on May 6 at Little Caesars Arena, just days before the league announced additional expansion to Las Vegas and Hamilton, Ontario, on May 13. With those moves, the league now stands at 11 teams, even as the third PWHL Walter Cup Finals are underway between the Montréal Victoire and Ottawa Charge.
Rhéaume’s hiring also brings a familiar name back to Detroit. She performed the ceremonial puck drop at the first-ever PWHL game at Little Caesars Arena on March 16, 2024, and has long been described as a trailblazer and one of the most influential figures in women’s hockey history. She made history as the first woman to sign a professional hockey contract and the first woman to play in an NHL game, later representing Canada and winning two gold medals at the IIHF Women’s World Championship and a silver medal at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.
For Detroit, the next steps are immediate. The front office must move from announcement mode to roster building, with the draft set for June 17 and the first season approaching fast. Rhéaume said she cannot wait to get started and build a team Detroit fans will be proud of, a task that now falls to a veteran whose career has stretched from the ice to the executive suite.
