Approximately one hour before the PWHL trade deadline at five p.m. Eastern on March 30, the New York Sirens and the Minnesota Frost completed a trade that saw Sirens blue-liner Jincy Roese head to Minnesota. In return, Minnesota sent over a two-time Walter Cup Champion, forward Denisa Křížová.

Here’s some background on the two players, some of the rationale behind the trade from both front offices, and why the move is more interesting than it initially appears on both sides.

Who’s Being Traded?

Denisa Křížová

Křížová joins the Sirens after spending the past three seasons with the Frost, totalling 95 games with the team across the regular season and playoffs. In that time, she has mostly served as a depth piece on a Frost roster with stars such as Kendall Coyne-Schofield, Grace Zumwinkle, and Taylor Heise.

Křížová totalled 10 career goals, including two in the playoffs, and 12 assists, with a + five through that time. Křížová also serves as an assistant captain of the Czech national team.

Jincy Roese

The 2025–2026 campaign was Roese’s first in New York after signing there in the offseason as a free agent. Previously, she played for Ottawa, where she notched three goals and 16 assists in 51 regularseason games, plus playing in a single postseason game during the Charge’s run to the Walter Cup finals in 2025.

In New York, she put up six assists in 22 games—ranking third on the team in offensive production by defenders—while mostly playing on the third pairing. Across both teams, her career plus-minus is -18. She also has previous Olympic experience, representing the United States in Beijing in 2022.

The Rationale

In the league’s press release about the trade, Frost General Manager Melissa Caruso had this to say about Roese:

“Jincy has proven to be a powerful defender through her tenure in the league and has a skillset we’re enthusiastic to add to our blue line. Across her three seasons, she has proven to be very impactful in different systems, and we look forward to what she will add to our team.”

It’s clear for the Frost that this trade is about adding defensive depth ahead of an upcoming playoff run. They were willing to sacrifice a trusted depth forward to do it because the Frost offence is already among the strongest in the league.

By contrast, Sirens General Manager Pascal Daoust spoke of his team’s glaring need at the forward position in light of several injuries to key forwards, including Taylor Girard, who is out for the remainder of the season, and rookie goal-scoring leader Kristýna Kaltounková, who is day-to-day with an unspecified injury. The Sirens have no forwards on their reserve list, further exacerbating the issue.

Trading a defender also gives more opportunity to the defensive depth on the Sirens, including rookie Dayle Ross and reserve defender Nicole Vallario, who was a key piece in Switzerland’s bronze-medal run at the Olympics.

One thing worth noting is that while Křížová traditionally served as a depth piece for Minnesota, on a much younger and less-experienced forward group like that of New York, she could play a much larger role than we are used to seeing her in. In fact, at 31 years old, the trade makes Křížová the oldest player on the entire Sirens roster.

Why It’s Intriguing

Beyond the logistics of this trade, there are a few other storylines at play. Notably, the Minnesota Frost organization saw enough value in Křížová that when the Vancouver Goldeneyes selected her in last year’s expansion draft, they traded draft pick Anna Segedi to Vancouver to re-acquire her just days before the 2025–2026 season. Trading someone held in such high regard for a depth piece at the blue line is sure to raise some questions.

On the other end of things, Roese was New York’s lone free agent signing to come from another team this past offseason. For a team that is, at this point, known for its weak attendance and turbulent seasons involving more losing than winning, trading someone who chose to come to that environment is an equally interesting choice.

Despite this, it’s clear that both sides of the trade acquired what they were looking for.

Incidentally, the first game in which we will see these players suit up for their new teams is when the Sirens take on the Frost at Prudential Center on April 1, their first home game since shattering their home attendance record on March 8.