Rangers defenseman Will Borgen adjusting well with new team after hectic start
Rangers defenseman Will Borgen sets before a faceoff against the Boston Bruins in the second period of an NHL game at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 2. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
SALT LAKE CITY — It’s been almost a month since the Rangers obtained Will Borgen from Seattle along with a couple of draft picks for forward Kaapo Kakko, and things are starting to settle down for the 28-year-old defenseman.
“Everything’s good. I’m getting used to everything now,’’ he said at the Rangers’ morning skate before Thursday night’s game against the Utah Hockey Club, their first-ever contest in the state of Utah. “I got some [clothes] and then I’ve got the rest on the way, so it’s getting better. I’ll have all my stuff in, like, a week, so then I’ll be good.’’
Borgen, an original member of the Kraken, was in Chicago on a road trip with Seattle when he got traded to the Rangers on Dec. 18, the day before his 28th birthday. He flew to Dallas, where the Rangers were preparing to close out a road trip against the Stars, then flew with the team to New York for a back-to-back before the Christmas break. From there he flew home to Minnesota for Christmas and back to New York after the break for a single practice before going to Florida for another trip to close out the calendar year.
In all, nine of Borgen’s first 13 games with the Rangers were played on the road, so it’s been hectic. And it was all the more hectic because when he first joined the team, they were in the throes of a struggle in which they lost 15 of 19 games from Nov. 21 through Dec. 30. But they entered Thursday at 4-1-2 in their last seven, which has made things a little easier for Borgen and everyone else.
“When I got here, yeah, they were in a little bit of a slump,’’ Borgen said. “That happens everywhere you go, every season. Most teams are gonna go through a slump in an 82-game season.
“They probably had a little bit higher expectations for themselves after last year, but yeah, things are going good now,’’ he said. “Guys are playing good . . . And I think we have a chance to definitely get into the playoffs.’’
Borgen, stylistically a physical defensive defenseman, had a goal and an assist in 12 games with the Rangers before Thursday and an even plus/minus in an average time on ice of 18 minutes and 48 seconds. His partnering with K’Andre Miller on the second defense pair, often matching up against the opposing team’s top line, has been good.
Entering Thursday, the Rangers had outshot opponents 76-65, produced 71 scoring chances versus 66 allowed and outscored opponents 8-6 in the 144 minutes, 58 seconds in which Miller and Borgen were on the ice together at five-on-five.
“I like playing with K’Andre a lot,’’ Borgen said. “I think we work well together. He’s a really good player, so it makes it easy on me. He communicates well on the ice; he’s good all over. So yeah, if we shut it down defensively, there’s enough skill up front. We just move the puck up there.’’
“They take tough [defensive zone] starts and take top [opposition] players,’’ coach Peter Laviolette said earlier this week. “They’re both big [Miller is 6-5, 215, Borgen is 6-3, 204], they can skate. I think they’ve done a really good job together.’’
Borgen made his Rangers debut one game after fellow newcomer Urho Vaakanainen, who arrived from Anaheim in the Jacob Trouba trade a few weeks earlier but was dealing with an upper-body injury and had to sit out a few games before he could get into the lineup. According to Laviolette, both of the new defensemen have been good.
“We’ve done a much better job against the rush and defensively against teams, and they’re a big part of it,’’ he said. “They’re big, they’re strong . . . they close [on attackers] quick, they’re kind of a defender-first attitude. I think that’s helped layer in with the guys that we have.’’
Notes & quotes: The players enjoyed the experience of coming to Salt Lake City for the first time. “Yeah, we’re all excited to get here and see the city, and the arena is obviously really nice,’’ Ryan Lindgren said. “It’s fun to come to new places.’’ . . . It wasn’t a new place to Laviolette, who said he came here often when he was in the minor leagues, playing for the Colorado and Denver Rangers of the old IHL from 1987-89. “Both teams, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles [and Colorado/Denver Rangers], didn’t have anybody really around them, so we were, I think, our closest rivals. It was like New York and New Jersey, like playing the Devils,’’ Laviolette said . . . Laviolette kept the same lineup that played in Colorado on Tuesday, meaning defenseman Zac Jones and forwards Jonny Brodzinski and Jimmy Vesey were the scratches.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
