The Boston Bruins took the ice on Tuesday night without their number one defenseman, Charlie McAvoy. McAvoy is suspended for the first six games of the season due to a slashing incident with Buffalo Sabres forward Zach Benson, in the final game of the Bruins' playoff exit last season. Any team that is without their top defensemen for six games will surely see a drop-off in play, however, the teams that have high aspirations and standards will find a way to weather the storm and win games regardless. Several Bruins started their 2026-27 campaign with a strong showing against the Rangers, but one guy who stuck out was the newly acquired right-shot defenseman, Will Borgen.
Boston acquired Borgen from the New York Rangers this past offseason, in part, due to the departure of Andrew Peeke. The Bruins clearly targeted this player, considering they gave up a second-round pick in the ’27 draft as well as a conditional third-round pick in the ’28 draft. He certainly brings more experience to the blue line; the 29-year-old has played just under 400 games in his career while averaging over 17 minutes a night. However, the main thing he brings is a smooth skating stride and the ability to escape tough areas in the defensive zone, which leads to cleaner breakouts.
Borgen was slotted on the first pair with Hampus Lindholm to start and finished the night with a +2 rating in just under 18 minutes on ice and a shot on goal. He did have his moments in the d-zone where you can tell he is still getting accustomed to Marco Sturm’s system, but all things considered, it was an outstanding debut. A number of times over the course of the game, he was able to retrieve a 50/50 puck and move it up quickly to the forwards to exit the zone. A prime example is earlier in the sequence that led to Mark Kastelic’s empty goal. Borgen wins a battle deep in the defensive zone and chips it out of the corner to Marat Knusnutdinov, and away the black and gold went to ice the game.
Borgen may not light up scoresheet, but skating ability is his biggest asset
Over the past few off-seasons, Don Sweeney has clearly emphasized acquiring and playing big, tough defensemen. Borgen definitely checks the box for big, standing at 6-foot-3; however, if he can continue to make a good first pass and push the pace from the back end, it will add another dimension to this defense corps.
Around the league, you continue to see that it takes great skating defensemen to not only neutralize teams on the rush, but also be a factor in the offense. Now, Borgen has only reached 20 points in his career twice, so Bruins fans should not expect a major point producer. However, the plays he can make in the defensive zone should pay off in dividends for the forward group as we saw on the Kastelic empty-net goal Tuesday night.
It will be interesting to see the usage of Borgen as we get deeper into the first month of the season, especially when McAvoy returns. Rookie Frederic Brunet is a player that a lot of fans are excited to see, did not draw into the lineup against the Rangers. Also, as always with this Bruins defense unit, health will be something to keep an eye on. If the Borgen and Hampus Lindholm defense pair are able to stay together as the year goes on, that will mean the Bruins season is going in a positive direction.
The Bruins travel to Winnipeg on Friday night to battle the Jets in their first road test of the year.
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