BRIGHTON – The Boston Bruins’ biggest move on July 1 has turned into a “nice surprise” for the black and gold through 14 games.
The Bruins acquired Will Borgen from the Rangers for a second- and a conditional third-round pick on July 1, just hours after the Bruins traded Joonas Korpisalo to New York. The Bruins targeted Borgen to bolster the right-handed defensive depth behind Charlie McAvoy, while also alleviating McAvoy’s load on the penalty kill.
Go Ad-Free
Marco Sturm is Borgen’s fifth NHL coach in the last four years, with Boston being the fourth stop in his NHL career. When he arrived at training camp in September, the 29-year-old defenseman said there were “plenty” of differences with Sturm’s system, and that adjusting was going to be “a little bit” of a challenge.
Also Read:Will Borgen Adjusting to Bruins’ System, Marco Sturm ‘Very Happy’
Through 14 games, Borgen has four points (2-2–4). Both of his goals have come from long-range shots into empty nets.
“Good, yeah. I got [the system] down now,” Borgen said to BHN after an optional skate on Friday.
“It’s more reactionary thinking about it now. It just takes a little time to get used to any new system, just because you have something else ingrained in you from seasons before or whatever team you played with before.
But yeah, no, I got it down.”
During Charlie McAvoy’s suspension, Borgen skated on the top pair with Hampus Lindholm. Once McAvoy came back, Borgen slid down to the second pair.
He has played seven of the last eight games alongside Nikita Zadorov, and one with Jonathan Aspirot.
As a defensive pairing, Borgen and Zadorov own a 46.04% share of attempted shots in 104:14 together, according to NaturalStatTrick. The Bruins have outshot opponents 53-50 and outscored opponents 7-2 with them on the ice.
Zadorov leads the team with 44 hits and 21 blocked shots. Borgen is right behind him in both categories, with 39 and 16, respectively.
“Yeah, I think we play semi-similar styles,” Borgen said about playing with Zadorov. “I think we worry about the D side of things and trying to take care of stuff down there, and I thought we’ve done a pretty good job so far.
Last two games just didn’t go as well for anyone. But no, I think we play similar styles, and it’s worked so far.”
“We’re just trying to do our job, play defense well on their top guys. We both have the same mindset there to take care of our end so that it works.”
Borgen has logged 30:05 of shorthanded time through the first 14 games, which is the third-most on the team and second-most by a defenseman. He has spent the majority of his penalty-killing time alongside Zadorov, with over 13 minutes together.
However, Zadorov leads the team in penalty minutes, so Borgen also gets reps in with Hampus Lindholm and Mason Lohrei.
Borgen’s plus-14 rating through the first 14 games also ties him for fourth-best in the league. He is behind three Edmonton Oilers, including both Evan Bouchard (plus-19) and Connor McDavid (plus-17).
That doesn’t matter to him too much, though.
“No, plus is like a team stat. Our team’s had success out there for some of the goals, so yeah it’s a good thing,” Borgen said.
“I mean, [you] never want to get scored on. But no, I think plus-minus is more of a team stat [and I] just happen to be out there for some of them.”
During training camp, Borgen said he focuses “more on the defensive side of things.” He prioritizes moving the puck up quickly, and through the first 14 games, Borgen has four giveaways on the season. His 0.92 giveaways per 60 is the lowest on the Bruins roster.
The defensive reliability Borgen has provided the Bruins is exactly what they were looking for when they traded for him on July 1. Marco Sturm, who admitted he did not know much about Borgen when the trade happened, has been pleased with what he has seen so far.
“Yeah, he’s been great. I really like him so far.
I think he’s been really, really good. [When he] came in…
I knew a little bit about him, but not too much,” Sturm said. “But it was definitely a nice surprise.
We wanted to upgrade our D corps, especially on the right side, and I think we definitely did that with Will in the lineup.”
FOLLOW @JACKSTUDLEY13 ON 𝕏 | FOLLOW @BOSHockeyNow ON 𝕏
