PWHL Detroit signs Jesse Compher to three-year contract

An exceptional, two-way player is heading to Hockeytown.

On Monday, PWHL Detroit announced that the team has signed forward Jesse Compher to a three-year contract. The deal, which begins next season, will carry through the 2028-29 campaign.

Compher is the fifth and final signing Detroit can make during Phase 2 of the Expansion Roster Distribution Process, which saw the deadline pass at 1 p.m. ET on Monday. Compher joins an exceptional core, which includes former Toronto Sceptres teammate Daryl Watts, Hannah Bilka, Cayla Barnes and Britta Curl-Salemme. Bilka is the only one of the five who isn’t signed to at least a three-year contract.

Compher heads to Detroit, where she’ll be reunited with brother J.T., a member of the Detroit Red Wings.

The Northbrook, Ill. native had been with the Sceptres since the league’s inception over two years ago, as she was taken by the team in the fifth round of the 2023 PWHL Draft. Compher, who still had one more year on her latest contract with Toronto, has been one of the team’s top secondary scorers over its first three seasons. After a bumpy rookie season, she notched a career-high nine goals and 18 points during the 2024-25 campaign. However, on a Sceptres team that finished with a league-low 51 goals this past year, Compher’s numbers dipped, posting just six goals and 12 points in 30 regular-season games, as Toronto missed the Walter Cup Playoffs for the first time.

Compher brings versatility and depth to the Motor City. While she might not produce at the same level as Watts or Bilka, she’ll be a reliable piece for head coach Josh Sciba.

In 84 career regular-season games with Toronto, the 26-year-old has scored 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points, with another four points in nine postseason games. She’s also represented the United States on numerous occasions, winning the gold medal at the IIHF Women’s World Championship twice and taking home silver at the 2021 Women’s Worlds and the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Detroit joins Hamilton as the only teams to sign five players during Phase 2. They won’t be able to make any more signings until the next signing period begins on Wednesday.