The Minnesota Frost had a strong month of March with five wins out of eight games; their three losses were pretty rough, and two of them were against the Montréal Victoire. They ended the month with one of those losses to the Victoire and the other was to the Boston Fleet. They struggled to get their game together, and they decided to do something to try to get it going in the right direction.
They traded away forward Denisa Křížová to the New York Sirens, and in return, they received defender Jincy Roese. This was done right before the trade deadline, and both teams clearly hope this move can help push them through to the postseason. In this article, we’ll look at who the Frost traded away, who the Frost got, and what they need to do to push forward.
Frost Trade Depth Forward
The Frost have quite a few players who can score goals, and although they’ve struggled to do so lately, once they get going, they’re hard to stop. While Křížová wasn’t one of the big scorers on the Frost, she still provided points and, even more importantly, depth. She was one of the more defensive-minded forwards on the team, and now that they traded her, they are going to miss that.
She’s a fast skater with strong puck-handling skills, and she doesn’t spend a lot of time in the penalty box. She’s also not afraid to get in front of the puck and block a shot to help out her goaltenders. Again, Křížová doesn’t put up a ton of points like Taylor Heise and Kendall Coyne-Schofield, but the play she has away from the puck and behind the scenes is just as important.
She could play on any line, and the Sirens are lucky to have her. She’ll make their team better no matter which line they put her on, and she’ll be able to help them add more depth to their lineup.
Frost Gain More Defense
After the expansion draft, the Frost lost two of their best defenders in Sophie Jacques and Claire Thompson; they also lost Mellissa Channell-Watkins and Maggie Flaherty after the draft. While they did pick up some players to hopefully fill those voids they left behind, they still lacked in the defensive area. Nothing against the players they picked up, but having four players of that caliber leave, it takes time to find and teach players to play like them.
However, with this trade, they brought in Jincy Roese, and she’s a strong defender who can help tighten up their defense just in time for the postseason. She doesn’t produce a lot of points, but again, the Frost have quite a few players who can contribute when they step up. They need more defense in front of their goaltenders, and that’s what Roese brings.
She’s spent time with the Ottawa Charge and the Sirens before joining the Frost, and when she was with the Charge, she contributed quite a few points as a defender. It’ll be interesting to see what she can bring to the Frost; hopefully, it’s a lot of defense and some of the offense.
Frost Need to be Better
While the Frost were bound to have a few rough games here and there, the most difficult part of their losses was how they lacked energy and their style of play. When they are successful, they are aggressive, fast, and very good at scoring goals. However, as mentioned above, they need a stronger defense, and that’s what this trade is going to hopefully bring.
Related: New York Sirens Trade Jincy Roese to the Minnesota Frost for Denisa Krizova
The Frost need to find their game again as they are speeding towards the postseason and get some wins going. They have a pretty secure spot when it comes to the playoffs, unless something goes terribly wrong, which has come very close to happening the past few seasons. However, this season they’re in a bit better position than in the past, and that should help them.
Hopefully, this trade can give this lineup the boost it really needs to get back in the winning circle. It’s going to be very interesting, though, because their first game after the trade is against the Sirens on Wednesday, Apr. 1, so they will see Křížová before she’s had a chance to fully settle in with her new team. The Frost have seven games left, and they need to win as many of them as they can and hopefully go into the postseason on a win streak.
