Pride to Add Big-Time Free Agent
The Boston Pride sent an announcement to several media members, then had confirmed that they plan to unveil a new free agent signing tomorrow during a team press conference. Given the secretive nature of how they’ve handled this, and some of the whispers I’ve heard, let’s go through who it could be, shall we?
C Evelina Raselli
David W. Cerny/REUTERS
Raselli was the Pride’s selection in the International Draft this summer, and it would make sense to see the team hype up a big-time international player. She is coming off of a disappointing Women’s World Championships where she only tallied a single goal for the Swiss, but she had 33 points in 20 games for Ladies Team Lugano in the SWHL this past season. The Pride lost a lot of center depth this offseason, and adding a veteran pivot with Raselli’s resume would be considered a major success.
Veteran reporter Dan Rice then indicated that it would be a player from the Minnesota Whitecaps. So, Raselli might be the wildcard here. Who are some options from Minnesota?
F Jonna Curtis
Kirsten Burton
This is some real pie in the sky, galaxy brain thinking here, but given the deep UNH connections on this Boston roster, what if they were able to lure Curtis back to the east coast? The forward has 3 seasons with Minnesota under her belt, and was an MVP candidate in the last full season of the league, tallying 36 points in 21 games in 2019-20 to end in a 3-way tie for 2nd in league scoring. She’s fast and extremely dynamic, and would fill a need up front after losing Lexie Laing and Tereza Vanišová this offseason. It’s doubtful, but one can hope.
F Nina Rodgers
Michelle Jay
Rodgers spent the last two seasons with the Minnesota Whitecaps after her rookie season with Connecticut in 2018-19. She is a Boston University alum, and was hired this summer as an assistant coach for Dartmouth’s women’s hockey team. She had 6 points in 4 games for the Whitecaps in the abridged 2020-21 season, and emerged as an important play driver for them down the stretch. Rodgers also has grown into an important off-ice advocate in the league for important social issues, something I know the Pride as an organization value extremely highly.
D Amanda Boulier
This is the least fun option because it’s already almost confirmed to be Boulier (Melissa Burgess of the Victory Press had it first), but given that the team saw Taylor Turnquist depart in free agency (likely to sign with the Whitecaps in what would amount to essentially a one-for-one swap), Boulier immediately gives the Pride quite literally two of the best defenders in league history - and they don’t even have to play them on the same pair. Boulier, like Rodgers, started her career with the Connecticut Whale before joining the Whitecaps. The key difference is that she is a Connecticut native, so coming back to the east coast makes some legitimate sense for her long-term. She didn’t appear in the regular season for Minnesota due to COVID restrictions, but did play in one playoff game this year. The previous season, she tallied 27 points in 22 games as the highest scoring defender in the league. Kaleigh Fratkin was 2nd that year. Combine Boulier with a projected breakout season from Jenna Rheault, continued growth from Mallory Souliotis, and an intriguing rookie in Abby Cook, there is a lot of offense that should come from the blueline for Boston this year.
