#will borgen

you squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi, i can tell that it's gonna be a long road '22-'23 playoff kraken vs the '23/'24-'24/'25 struggles and the pain of what the trade deadline means when you're a seller

2026 IIHF World Championship

5/26/26 - Game 53: USA vs. AUT

Kraken are trading Borgy and some picks to the Rangers for Kaapo Kakko. I have thoughts about this!

First, emotionally: I’m so so sad to see Borgy go. I honestly teared up when I saw the news. He’s one of the original Kraken we got in the expansion draft. He’s loved by his teammates, especially his housemate Matty and his various d partners. His partnership with Soucy was magical in s2, and his partnership with Riggy last season as a shutdown dpair was very strong.

It’s truly been such a pleasure to watch him grow from a 7th dman who barely could crack the lineup to a solidly consistent player that teams WANT as a piece to bolster their blue line. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say he’s one of the kraken’s most improved players, looking at his skill level when we got him to now.

Roster-wise: I think this is a great trade for us, honestly. Borgy’s play has been somewhat inconsistent this year, with the Borgy Ryker partnership struggling compared his previous pairings. (It’s the first time he’s been the more senior partner). It’s also a contract year for him; he’s a free agent this summer and as much as we love him, it’s extremely unlikely GMRF would’ve re-signed him with the expensive deals for Dunn, Lars, and Montour all inked, and with solid dmen like Ottavainen and Nelson coming up the pipeline. So trading him away now and getting something for him, instead of losing him this summer for nothing, is, to me, a smart choice.

Plus… with Ebs out for three months minimum, and Sprong clearly being a bust (judging by how Dan does NOT want to play him), we’re weak on the right wing. Our offense has stalled, even with the return of Dunn from injury, and we need a shakeup to our forward corps. Kakko is a decently high ceiling player (2oa in the 2019 draft) who has been mismanaged and poorly developed. This seems to me like a Tolvy situation with a potentially higher upside.

Also… Kaapo is another celiacs friend for Ryker! And a Finn friend for Tolvy!