Will Borgen signs 2-year deal in Seattle

by Bob Condor / @ByBobCondor / nhl.com/kraken

The roster-building is ongoing for the Kraken. Will Borgen, the team's Expansion Draft pick from the Buffalo Sabres, agreed to terms with Seattle Thursday. His contract is two years, $1.8 million total with a $900,000 average annual value (AAV) or salary cap hit.

"Will is a responsible, defensive defenseman who's size and physical style of play can add a spark to a lineup," said Seattle Kraken General Manager Ron Francis. "He's still young and developing. We believe in his upside."

The 24-year-old, 6-3, 205-pound defenseman played 10 games this past season for the Sabres. Four of those games, in which he averaged 17 minutes of ice time, were in mid-February before Borgen blocked a shot by then-New Jersey forward Kyle Palmieri in a Feb. 20 game that resulted in a broken forearm and a two-month stay on the injured list.

Borgen returned late season, averaging 16 minutes of ice time. Buffalo head coach Don Granato (brother of Kraken pro scout Cammi Granato) was impressed with Borgen's readiness for the NHL before the injury, playing him nearly 20 minutes in that Feb. 20 game.

A closer look at Borgen's ice time reveals significant minutes on the penalty-kill unit. That's a standout stat for a younger player.

"He's on the cusp of full-time NHL potential," Don Granato told the Buffalo News' Lance Lysowski. "To get to that point, there's a lot of little intricacies that he's gotten right ... on the intangibles side, his body language, even his posture, he knows it, he senses it ... he's been able to internalize a lot of dynamics that go into the maturing process of becoming and knowing you're an everyday NHL player."

Drafted by Buffalo in fourth round (92nd overall) in 2015 NHL Draft, Borgen played three seasons at NCAA Division I St. Cloud State, earning conference "Defensive Defenseman of Year" awards.

He played two full seasons with Buffalo's American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester, NY, and debuted with the Sabres in a four-game 2019 call-up to play third-pair minutes when teammates were injured.