William Borgen (born December 19, 1996) is an American professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

for the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL).

Playing career

Early career

Borgen attended

Moorhead High School Moorhead High School is a public high school in Moorhead, Minnesota, United States. Established in 1883, the school serves approximately 2,000 students in grades 912. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 18.81. Extracurricular activities ...

in Minnesota, playing as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the team. He would then join the

Omaha Lancers The Omaha Lancers are a Junior ice hockey#Tier I, Tier I junior ice hockey team and are members of the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). Founded in 1986, the Lancers play at the Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Ra ...

of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

(USHL) to complete the 2014–15 season. Borgen was drafted by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

in the 2015 NHL entry draft, in the fourth round, 92nd overall. He began his collegiate career the following season with St. Cloud State University of the

National Collegiate Hockey Conference The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference. The league was formed on July 9, 2011 and began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a ...

while majoring in sports management.

Collegiate

In his freshman season at St. Cloud State, Borgen recorded his first collegiate point, an assist, in a game against

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

on October 30. He later recorded his first collegiate goal against

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

. In the end, he recorded 11 assists in conference games to lead all NCHC freshman defenseman. As a result, he was selected for the NCHC All-Rookie team. In his junior year, Borgen recorded a career-high and team-leading, 14 points to earn NCHC Defensive Defenseman of the Year. He was also named an All-NCHC Honorable Mention.

Professional

At the completion of his junior season with the Huskies in 2017–18, Borgen was signed to an

entry-level An entry-level job is a job that is normally designed or designated for recent graduates of a given discipline and typically does not require prior experience in the field or profession. These roles may require some on-site training. Many entr ...

contract by the Buffalo Sabres on March 25, 2018. He was assigned to join the Sabres'

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL) affiliate, the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Rochester, New York. They are the American Hockey League affiliate of the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home g ...

, on an

amateur try-out The following are the types of hockey contracts that players may be signed to when they play professional ice hockey. NHL contracts Two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract which stipulates that an athlete's salary i ...

(ATO) agreement to play out the remainder of his contract. He eventually made his NHL debut against the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

on March 26, 2019. On July 21, 2021, Borgen was selected from the Sabres by the

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The t ...

in the 2021 NHL expansion draft. Borgen scored his first NHL goal on January 2, 2022, against the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

. Following the 2022–23 season, Borgen signed a two-year contract with the Kraken. During the 2024–25 season, on December 18, 2024, Borgen was traded by the Kraken to the

along with two draft picks in exchange for Kaapo Kakko.

International play

Borgen was selected to represent the United States junior team at the 2016 World Junior Championships. He contributed with three assists in seven games, as the United States captured the bronze medal. On January 1, 2018, Borgen was selected to compete at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borgen, Will 1996 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's ice hockey defensemen Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Ice hockey players at the 2018 Winter Olympics Ice hockey players from Minnesota New York Rangers players Olympic ice hockey players for the United States Omaha Lancers players People from Moorhead, Minnesota Rochester Americans players Seattle Kraken players St. Cloud State Huskies men's ice hockey players