Will Borgen Playing Himself Into A Contract Extension With Rangers If He Is Not Traded

The New York Rangers have a tough decision to make regarding Will Borgen’s future.

The Rangers acquired Borgen from the Seattle Kraken in the Kaapo Kakko trade, and he’s shown to be valuable since arriving in New York.

In 11 games with the Blueshirts, Borgen has been averaging 18:37 minutes as he continues to hold a heavy workload.

Most importantly, the 28-year-old is making a big impact defensively and has helped the Rangers fix some of their defensive woes.

Borgen is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2024-25 season. Rangers general manager Chris Drury can try to extend Borgen or trade him around the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline.

“The Rangers have gotten some strong games out of Will Borgen, another pending UFA who came from the Kraken in the Kakko trade, and Borgen would be a decent option to extend beyond this season if he’d be willing to take third-pair minutes in 2025-26,” Arthur Staple of The Athletic wrote. “That too seems unlikely, so Borgen is another possible trade piece before the March 7 deadline.”

The gritty blueliner seems to be playing himself into a pay raise and he certainly would be a good option for the Rangers to have moving forward as possibly a third-pairing defenseman.

Recently, the Rangers have started to turn things around with the playoffs not being totally out of the picture for this team, so keeping Borgen for a playoff push would be wise of Drury.

Borgen’s future will all depend on where the Rangers stand in a month and a half from now. It’s a situation worth monitoring.