New York Rangers defenseman Will Borgen has already been traded once this season, and early indications suggest that the rugged blueliner could be on the move once again. The Vancouver Canucks, of course, were already named suitors for the once-traded Borgen by NHL insider Chris Johnston.
Borgen, 28, was one of the original Seattle Kraken players, selected from the Buffalo Sabres in the 2021 expansion draft. Of course, the former fourth-round pick also scored his first NHL goal against the Canucks. The Rangers paid the unenviable price of Kaapo Kakko to bring in Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2025 sixth-round pick back on Dec. 18.
Judging by where the Rangers are in the standings, Borgen was brought in as more of a short-term, stopgap option, with the third-round pick being arguably the most valuable piece coming back to New York in return for Kakko.
A cheap, short-term option like Borgen might be exactly what the Canucks are after in the market this year. And, after all, a team in a position like the one the Canucks are in can hardly refuse help at the defense position.
Why the Canucks should trade for Will Borgen
What was Johnston's argument for the Canucks making a potential trade for Borgen?
"The Canucks have struggled since losing Filip Hronek to a significant lower-body injury earlier this month, and they’re not expecting him to play again before February. That’s exposed a gaping need on the right side of the blue line that management has aggressively been trying to address," Johnston said. "Enter Borgen, who excels in the less-celebrated parts of the game like penalty killing, which Vancouver can certainly use.
The stay-at-home defender is a good skater who should be able to step into a second pairing on a team and brings the kind of size teams view as an added plus come playoff time. Borgen will have plenty of suitors ahead of the deadline, but there may not be anyone more motivated to pursue him than Vancouver."
The idea here, in Johnston's view, is not to upgrade on Filip Hronek, but instead fill in the gaps behind him. For a Canucks team that suffers from a lack of depth more than they do a lack of talent, there are no flaws with this ideology.
The Canucks will have over $5.4 million tied up in 2025-26 thanks to the Oliver Ekman-Larsson buyout and the salary retention in the Ilya Mikheyev trade, so acquiring Borgen, who has one year remaining on his contract at a $2.7 million cap hit, allows general manager Patrik Allvin and Co. to remain flexible heading into the summer.
Provided that Borgen can offer value equal to or greater than a No. 5 defenseman, the Canucks should be happy with that. As long as the price is right, a Rangers-Canucks trade involving Borgen should be a no-brainer.