Will Borgen, the “prize” of the Kaapo Kakko trade, was a defender who was an eye on Chris Drury for a while. After he finally landed his husband, guaranteeing immediately in a 2nd role next to K’andre Miller and initially looked pretty good. He left that in a 5 -year contract extension, who came with a sticker shock as a bit of a too much payment. Contract and trade efficiency aside, guaranteeing was considered by both Drury and Peter Laviolette as a 2nd, which is interesting to see how high they think of roasting Schneider.
In Will Borgen’s 51 Games as 2nd, he set up a line of 4-9-13 without PowerPlay time and on average 16:39 toi per game. Like almost any other Rangers defender, not the name Adam Fox, Borgen’s Possession statistics are quite roughAlthough at least he has a bit of an excuse, because he misunderstands as a closing defender, which he is clearly not. It seems that many problems in the Rangers Blue Line years ago arose from a decision by Gerard Gallant that Miller and Jacob Trouba should be a shut -off pair. That has been transferred to guarantee, which does not fit into his skills.
The biggest challenge that Mike Sullivan will have is finding the right role for Will Borgen. He is clearly not intended as a shutdown defender. None of his micro states or possession numbers shows that it is his strength. He is a fast skater who can make a decent pass in the attacking zone. That probably means that it is most suitable as a 3rd, but that depends on what Braaden Schneider and Scott Morrow look like.
Apart from: am I alone, or do the defenses outside Gavrikov-Fox look a bit rough?
Assessing the defenders, especially the new ones, is a tough task. On the one hand, the figures of Borgen were not good and outside that first boost when he arrived, he didn’t look so good either. On the other hand, how much of this was system -related? How much was because the dressing room was a disaster? How much was because the team itself was under performance? It is difficult to set a grade to an individual when the entire team smelled.
It is even more difficult to set a grade to Borgen, who will receive the horrible turnover of K’andre Miller last season.
Amazing how one game per game can change the complete analysis and points of view of a player, but here we are. Guarantee did not cause sales, but he was on the ice once they apparently ended up in the back of his net once a game. We have to judge him on his own performance, but how do we assess him when his performance was clearly influenced by a number of factors outside of his control?
In the end I think that playing safely with Will Borgen’s figure is the best approach. He was also not overly productive in Seattle, so it is not as if he came to the Rangers and suddenly looked terrible. There is hope that he can cook back under Sully after a few rough seasons, but that now seems to be more a bit.
2024-2025 Will Borgen Report Card Grade: C
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