Who was the first woman to sign a contract with an NHL team?

Manon Rhéaume was the first woman to sign a contract with an NHL team.

The Tampa Bay Lightning signed the Quebec-born goaltender in 1992, making her the first woman under contract with an NHL club. Rhéaume then made history by appearing in a preseason game against the St. Louis Blues. She played another preseason game for Tampa Bay in 1993, becoming the first and only woman to play in an NHL game.

Her achievement followed several earlier breakthroughs. In 1991, Rhéaume became the first woman to play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, appearing for the Trois-Rivières Draveurs. Her NHL appearances were exhibition games, not regular-season contests, so she did not become the first woman to play a regular-season NHL game. That distinction is sometimes blurred when her story is summarized.

Rhéaume later represented Canada internationally and won a silver medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, the first Olympics to include women’s ice hockey. Her NHL opportunity was brief, but it helped demonstrate that women could compete at the highest levels of the sport and became a landmark moment in hockey history.