The New York Rangers cleared a roster spot just hours after adding a defenseman. Will Borgen is headed to the Boston Bruins.
New York traded the 28-year-old blueliner to Boston on Wednesday in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick and a conditional 2028 third-rounder. Mollie Walker of the New York Post first reported the deal.
The condition on that 2028 pick is pretty specific. Boston gets bumped up to a second-rounder if the Bruins reach the conference final in either 2027 or 2028 and Borgen plays in at least half of their playoff games. So the Rangers are betting on either Boston making a deep run or banking a pick somewhere in the late 90s.
The roster math made this move inevitable
Earlier Wednesday, the Rangers traded for Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson. That gave New York seven NHL-caliber defensemen under contract. Something had to give. Borgen, who signed a five-year, $20.5 million deal with the Rangers in 2023, became the odd man out.
He played 72 games for New York last season, logging mostly second- and third-pair minutes. He’s a stay-at-home type, physical but not a big point producer. The Bruins could use exactly that kind of depth on the blue line after losing some bodies in free agency.
Boston’s defense took a hit when Matt Grzelcyk left for Pittsburgh. Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy are still there, but the bottom pair needed some shoring up. Borgen slots in as a reliable 17-18 minute guy who can kill penalties and doesn’t make many mistakes in his own zone.
What this means for the Rangers
New York now has Pettersson, Adam Fox, K’Andre Miller, Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren, Braden Schneider and Zac Jones on the roster. That’s seven guys for six spots. Another move might be coming. Trouba’s name keeps popping up in trade rumors, and Lindgren is entering a contract year.
The Rangers are clearly trying to reshape their defense after it got exposed in the playoffs last spring. Pettersson gives them a left-shot puck mover who can play with Fox. Borgen was the price of flexibility. Getting two draft picks back softens the blow a little.
Boston also now has about $6.2 million in cap space left, according to CapFriendly. That’s enough to make another move if they want to add a forward before training camp.
This story is developing. More details on the conditional picks and any salary retention will likely come out later today.
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