The Seattle Kraken came to terms with RFA defenceman Will Borgen on a new contract. The deal runs for two years, expiring after the 2025 season. Borgen earns a total of $5.4 million, equating to an $2.7 million cap hit annually.
Seattle’s Will Borgen has a new deal before his arbitration case: 2x$2.7M AAV
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 7, 2023
RFA Will Borgen Signs New Contract with Seattle Kraken
Borgen collected five goals and 23 assists (28 points) through 132 career contests thus far. Last season, he notched three goals and 17 assists for 20 points in 82 games. The blue liner, 26, debuted in 2018-19 for the Buffalo Sabres, who drafted him in the fourth round of the 2015 entry draft.
Borgen signed a two-year contract with Seattle after they claimed him in the expansion draft in 2021. That deal expired this summer, after his first full season in the NHL. He played just 50 NHL games from 2018-2022, then all 82 last year. Though that sign displays clear improvement, his relative Corsi-for percentage sat at a -6.2%. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that he started two-thirds of his shifts in the defensive zone.
He also added 203 hits and 89 blocked shots, numbers that ranked nearly triple what he achieved in any other year prior. The new contract Borgen earned reflected all the aforementioned growth, while remaining an affordable price from Seattle’s perspective.
What this Means for the Future
It remains to be seen whether Borgen can become a top four defenceman at the NHL level. In his favour, he just reached the prime years of his career. The Kraken likely want to maintain enough depth so as to keep Borgen mostly on the third pair, at least for the immediate future. But, another year or two of growth may push him up the depth chart quickly.
Aside from Borgen, the Kraken have plenty of other strong defencemen, led by Vince Dunn. The team still could make other moves this summer too, with their cap space. They watched the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup, and feel they sit on a similar path as the league’s newest expansion team. Expect more action from General Manager Ron Francis before the season gets underway.
Main Photo: Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports
