The Bruins opened their 2026-27 season without Charlie McAvoy, and that absence put the spotlight on a newcomer right away. Boston dropped into Tuesday night’s matchup with the Rangers missing its top defenseman for the first six games because of a slashing incident with Buffalo Sabres forward Zach Benson in the final game of last season’s playoff exit. That kind of loss can drag down a blue line fast, but the Bruins still found some early stability from Will Borgen.
Acquired from the New York Rangers over the offseason, Borgen arrived in Boston as part of the answer to Andrew Peeke’s departure. The Bruins paid a second-round pick in the ’27 draft and a conditional third-round pick in the ’28 draft to get him, a clear sign they wanted him in the mix.
At 29, he brings almost 400 games of experience and has averaged more than 17 minutes a night in his career. But what stood out Tuesday wasn’t a flashy offensive line - it was the way he moved the puck out of trouble.
Borgen opened on the top pair with Hampus Lindholm and finished with a +2 rating, just under 18 minutes of ice time, and a shot on goal. There were a few moments in the defensive zone where he still looked like a player adjusting to Marco Sturm’s system, but the overall impression was strong. He repeatedly won loose pucks in the defensive end and got them moving north quickly, helping Boston get cleaner exits.
That showed up on the sequence that ended with Mark Kastelic’s empty-net goal. Borgen won a battle deep in the zone and chipped the puck out of the corner to Marat Knusnutdinov, setting the Bruins on their way to sealing the game.
Borgen isn’t the kind of defenseman who is going to pile up points. He has reached 20 points in a season only twice, so Boston shouldn’t be expecting much offense from the scoresheet.
What he does offer is size - he’s 6-foot-3 - and skating that can change the feel of a shift. If he keeps making that first pass cleanly and helping Boston play faster from the back end, he can give this defense another layer.
That fits with the way Don Sweeney has approached his defense corps in recent offseasons, targeting bigger, tougher players. Around the league, the value of mobile defensemen is obvious: they can help stop rush chances and still contribute to the attack. Borgen’s game fits that mold more than it fits a box score.
How Boston uses him over the first month will be worth watching, especially once McAvoy is back. Rookie Frederic Brunet, a player plenty of fans were eager to see, did not get into the lineup against the Rangers.
And as usual with this Bruins defense, health will matter. If Borgen and Lindholm stay together as the season unfolds, that would be a good sign for Boston.
The Bruins are back on the road Friday night in Winnipeg, where they’ll face the Jets in their first road test of the year.
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