Kaleigh Fratkin Excited To Stay In Boston Through PWHL

The PWHL Boston franchise signed Kaleigh Fratkin on Tuesday, which reunited the defender with a city she's quite familiar with.

Fratkin went to school at Boston University and played for the Terriers from 2010-2014. She won Hockey East First-Team All-Star her senior season, and after she graduated, she played for the Boston Blades, where she helped the CWHL team win the 2015 Clarkson Cup.

The Canadian defender also is the highest-scoring defender in PHF history with 86 points in 138 career games. She competed in the eight full seasons of the league's existence and finished her career with the Boston Pride, where helped the team win two Isobel Cup titles. She also won back-to-back Defender of the Year awards in 2020 and 2021.

"It's really exciting to be able to have the opportunity to stay in Boston," Fratkin told reporters on a media call, per team-provided video. "It's become like a second or really just home for me. Fell in love with this city when I came to school in Boston, going to BU. And just having the opportunity to continue on playing professionally and beyond and making Boston home in that time frame. and establishing home base with friends, family, my husband, my dog and our families in Boston. It's nice to have the opportunity to play there as well."

Fratkin became the 14th player on Boston's roster and joined a star-studded group led by Hilary Knight and Alina Müller.

"The most exciting thing is really having the best players in the world playing in one spot, and I think that's what's really exciting is that day in and day out with your practice environment and the games you're playing, you're playing against the best players," Fratkin said. "And I think it's just really going to create a long-term environment where players can continue on playing professionally and beat the best of the best. I'm really excited for that. I'm really excited to play with and against players from across the world and do it day in or day out whether it's at practices or in games."

General manager Danielle Marmer praised Fratkin in a press release for her physical play which should prove to be valuable for head coach Courtney Kessel as she prepares her side for the inaugural PWHL season.