Will Borgen’s welcome fresh start has already paid off — and in the eyes of head coach Peter Laviolette, the defenseman has played a major role in the Rangers turning around their season, too.
After the Blueshirts’ 5-0 win over the Senators on Tuesday, which extended their point streak to nine games, Laviolette said that Borgen — acquired in the deal that sent Kaapo Kakko to the Kraken on Dec. 18 — has been a “big reason why things have quieted down a little bit.”
He has become entrenched alongside K’Andre Miller on the Rangers’ second defensive pairing, getting tasked with shutting down top opposing lines.
Will Borgen skates during the Rangers’ win over the Blue Jackets on Jan. 18, 2025.
His physical play has been on display over and over again, including from the opening shift against Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk.
And with his acclimation to the Rangers system complete, Borgen has settled into what he considered a familiar spot.
“I don’t know if it really is,” Borgen said after the team’s optional skate Wednesday, when asked if his role with the Rangers differed from his time with the Kraken. “I think the last couple years in Seattle, my role was to play defense against some of the top lines on other teams — and I feel like I’ve been doing that here, too.”
Borgen became the second defenseman the Rangers added during the season, with Urho Vaakanainen arriving early in December when the Blueshirts dumped Jacob Trouba to the Ducks.
Will Borgen skates during the Rangers’ win over the Golden Knights on Jan. 11, 2025.
The Kraken plucked Borgen from the Sabres during the expansion draft, and across three-plus seasons with Seattle, he tasted the playoffs and — with the second campaign serving as the defining one, he said — watched as the physical style of play that has always defined his career translated into the NHL.
Eventually, the Rangers will need to make a decision on Borgen, an unrestricted free agent after the season, and his place in any future blue-line combinations.
But Laviolette’s line captured just how much Borgen has meant to the Rangers in the present, too.
“I think they’re good two-way defensemen,” Laviolette said of Borgen and Vaakanainen, “but I think they think about the game defensively and how they can defend. I think they’re big and they’re strong, they’re physical. I think they close quickly. I think they have good sticks.”
Head coach Peter Laviolette watches from the bench during the Ranges’ loss to the Capitals on Jan. 4, 2025.
The Rangers will enter Thursday with a chance to secure their first 10-game points streak since Jan. 27-Feb. 24 last season.
When asked if the Blueshirts ever had doubt about being able to turn their season around after a brutal stretch in December, defenseman Ryan Lindgren said, “I think the way things were going, it’s hard for doubt not to creep into your mind. I think as a group, we knew that we had a lot better, and if we were able to play that way, we’d be able to get out of it. But … it was tough for us for a while.”
Alexis Lafreniere has scored goals in consecutive games and has four in the Rangers’ past eight games after a 13-goal drought ended against the Stars on Jan. 7.
When 6-foot-6 Adam Edstrom assisted on the goal Matt Rempe — 6-foot-8 ½ but listed by the NHL at 6-foot-9 — scored on Tuesday, the pair of fourth-line wingers tied the record for tallest scorer-primary assist combination in league history, according to the NHL.
They also paired for a goal last February, when Edstrom scored against the Blue Jackets and Rempe picked up the primary assist.
