The Bruins have their right-shot defenseman. Boston acquired Will Borgen from the Rangers on Wednesday, filling a top-four role that has sat mostly open since Brandon Carlo went to Toronto in March 2025.
The price, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post, is a 2027 second-round pick and a conditional 2028 third. That third becomes a second if two things happen: Boston reaches the Eastern Conference Final in either of the next two seasons, and Borgen appears in at least half of the club’s playoff games.
Borgen arrives with term attached. He is 29 and signed for four more years at a $4.1 million cap hit.
Don Sweeney framed the addition against what Boston is losing. Andrew Peeke is gone, Viktor Arvidsson is gone, and Sweeney said Borgen covers some of the same ground. “Will’s got length, he skates well, he competes,” the general manager said, adding that Borgen closes well in the defensive zone.
Sweeney also pointed at the penalty kill. Charlie McAvoy has carried a heavy share of that work, and spreading those minutes out is part of what Borgen is here to do.
The profile is a large defender who moves better than the frame suggests. At 6-foot-3 he projects as a physical, stay-at-home type, but NHL Edge tracking clocked his top skating speed last season at 22.30 miles per hour, which put him in the 75th percentile league-wide. Four separate bursts above 22 miles per hour landed him in the 91st.
The Minnesota native played 75 games for New York last season with five goals, 10 assists and 18:03 of average ice time.
Boston’s defense corps is crowded now. Connor Clifton and Jordan Harris both signed earlier the same day.
