PWHL
“Jessie’s consistency in being a dual threat and being able to put pucks in the net herself or create high-IQ, quality plays makes her so dangerous any time she touches the puck. And I think that’s a piece that we were missing.”
New Fleet forward Jessie Eldridge (left) has 23 career goals in 73 PWHL games. Chris Young
March 17, 2026 | 2:52 PM
4 minutes to read
In the penultimate game of the Fleet’s recent five-game road swing, Boston held a 2-1 lead over Seattle heading into the third period and had chance after chance to put the game away.
But the Fleet couldn’t find the back of the net, and the Torrent scored two late to hand Boston its first regulation loss since early January.
That game was indicative of a scoring pattern for the Fleet in recent weeks: The team’s analytics system says that Boston has outchanced its opponents in 90 percent of games this season, but the Fleet have lately struggled to convert those chances into goals.
Kris Sparre knows his players are capable of putting up three or four goals in a game because he saw them do it early in the season — the Fleet outscored opponents, 18-8, and secured three shutouts through their first seven games.
“It’s in there. It’s in the locker room,” the first-year coach said. “But sometimes you just need a little boost.”
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Huber’s overtime goal gives the Fleet a 4-3 win over the Victoire
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Boston Fleet sell out first PWHL game at TD Garden on April 11
He’s hoping that boost will come in the form of Jessie Eldridge, a dynamic scorer acquired from Seattle on Monday in exchange for Theresa Schafzahl.
The first-place Fleet have won eight of their last 12 games, all of which have been decided by one goal, and seven of those 12 went to overtime or a shootout.
Grinding out close wins is a great way to get a team ready for the playoffs, but to keep up with the two-time Walter Cup champion Minnesota Frost, who lead the league with 59 goals through 19 games nd regularly put up four of five in a game, Boston needed to add an offensive weapon.
Eldridge, a third-year player whose contract runs through the end of this season, is a proven scorer with seven goals and 13 points through 19 games. After spending her first two years in New York, she’s No. 8 on the PWHL’s all-time points list with 23-28–51 through 2½ seasons.
“We truthfully haven’t had someone like her on this team since the beginning,” general manager Danielle Marmer said. “Jessie’s consistency in being a dual threat and being able to put pucks in the net herself or create high-IQ, quality plays makes her so dangerous any time she touches the puck. And I think that’s a piece that we were missing.”
Eldridge arrived in Boston Tuesday morning as the Fleet’s morning skate wrapped up at Agganis Arena, so she didn’t get a chance to skate with the team, but Sparre plans to have her in the lineup Tuesday night against Toronto.
She’ll play on a line with Alina Müller in hopes that the two offensive-minded forwards can generate some scoring.
“Would I have loved to have three practices in a row with her prior to tonight? For sure,” Sparre said. “But we’re in a stage of the season where that’s not going to happen. So we’ll put her right into the fire, and we’ll start coaching from her first shift.”
Based on points alone, the trade for Eldridge looks lopsided in favor of Boston. Schafzahl, who had been with the Fleet since the inaugural season, has two goals and four assists in 19 games this season.
Torrent GM Meghan Turner, a close friend of Marmer’s who spent two seasons as the assistant GM in Boston, knows what she’s getting in Schafzahl. The Torrent aren’t eliminated from playoff contention, but they sit in last place and have lost a number of top players to injury in recent weeks.
“For Seattle to lose some scoring, but to bring in someone who they think is a great culture fit, it’s going to help elevate some of their team defense,” Marmer said. “When you know what you’re getting as well as Meghan knows [Theresa], it makes it easier to pull the trigger on a trade.”
Injury update
The move to acquire Eldridge was also partly motivated by a slew of Fleet injuries.
Jill Saulnier, who suffered a concussion after a hit into the boards Sunday night in Montreal, is day-to-day. Zoe Boyd is out for the season after tearing her ACL, and Sophie Shirley remains on long-term injured reserve but could be activated as soon as Saturday.
Sparre said he’s not anticipating the team making any more moves before the March 30 trade deadline, but if the Fleet did bring in another player, he said he’d look to replace some of the production they lost when Boyd, a puck-moving defender, got hurt.
Without Boyd, the Fleet have at times struggled to get the puck out of their defensive zone. While they work on getting their other defenders up to snuff, they hope that Eldridge can even the balance by capitalizing on the opportunities they get in the offensive zone.
“She was more valuable than I ever anticipated,” Sparre said of Boyd. “I knew she was great the whole time, but when she’s gone, you’re like, ‘How big of a gap is that going to be?’ And it’s been larger than I anticipated.”
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