"After finally landing his man, Borgen stepped right into a 2RD role alongside K'Andre Miller and actually looked pretty good initially. He parlayed that into a 5 year contract extension, which came with sticker shock as a bit of an overpay. Contract and trade return aside, Borgen was viewed as a 2RD by both Drury and Peter Laviolette, which is interesting given how highly they think of Braden Schneider."
"Like almost every other Rangers defenseman not named Adam Fox, Borgen's possession stats are pretty rough, though at least he has a bit of an excuse as he was miscast as a shutdown defenseman, which he is clearly not. It appears many issues on the Rangers blue line stem from a decision made by Gerard Gallant years ago that Miller and Jacob Trouba should be a shutdown pair. That carried over to Borgen, which doesn't fit his skill set."
"The biggest challenge Mike Sullivan will have is finding the right role for Will Borgen. He's clearly not meant to be a shutdown defender. None of his microstats or possession numbers show it's his strength. He's a swift skater that can make a decent pass in the offensive zone. That probably means he's best suited as a 3RD, but that depends how both Braden Schneider and Scott Morrow look."
Will Borgen joined the Rangers as the key return in the Kaapo Kakko trade and immediately filled a second-pair right defense role beside K'Andre Miller. Across 51 games he recorded a 4-9-13 line, averaged 16:39 TOI, and saw no power-play time, while posting poor possession metrics. The poor fit stemmed from being asked to play as a shutdown defender despite lacking those strengths. Borgen's skating and offensive passing suggest a third-pair role would suit him better, though the emergence of Braden Schneider and Scott Morrow and team/system issues will determine his long-term placement.
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