Seattle selects Will Borgen in Expansion Draft

Buffalo protected Rasmus Ristolainen, all but assuring they'd lose Borgen
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Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – At the Seattle Expansion Draft on Wednesday night, the Kraken selected defenseman Will Borgen from the Buffalo Sabres. The news of Borgen's selection was originally leaked by TSN hockey insider Pierre LeBrun earlier Wednesday afternoon.

Borgen could’ve maybe been kept if general manager Kevyn Adams made a side deal with Seattle’s general manager Ron Francis to stay away from Borgen. With that being said, we don’t know what Francis would be asking for, or if he just wanted Borgen and wouldn’t deal.

Adams must have some very good offers for Rasmus Ristolainen, because he chose to keep that asset and lose Borgen in the Expansion Draft.

I think this is a very big loss for the Sabres, and one I would’ve tried to prevent.

After being drafted by the Sabres in the fourth round (92nd overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, the 25-year-old blossomed into one of the best defensemen in the NCHC playing for St. Cloud State. He signed with Buffalo after his junior season and really became a very good shutdown defenseman, playing two seasons and 140 games with the Rochester Americans.

Ralph Krueger foolishly kept Borgen on the taxi squad until Feb. 15 this season when he got into the lineup due to injuries. Borgen played so well he wasn’t coming out until a broken forearm on Feb. 20 put him on the shelf for two months. Borgen played 14 career games with the Sabres, going pointless and registering a minus-9 rating.

With Borgen gone, we know the Sabres will have Rasmus Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, Colin Miller, Mattias Samuelsson and Jacob Bryson on defense. We don’t know if Ristolainen and pending unrestricted free agent Jake McCabe will be back.

There were plenty of leaks throughout the league of the pick from each team, with Frank Seravalli from Daily Faceoff leading the way.

Here are all the selections made by the Kraken on Wednesday:

Atlantic Division:
- Boston Bruins: Jérémy Lauzon - Defense
- Buffalo Sabres: Will Borgen - Defense
- Detroit Red Wings: Dennis Cholowski - Defense
- Florida Panthers: Chris Driedger - Goalie
- Montreal Canadiens: Cale Fleury - Defense
- Ottawa Senators: Joey Daccord - Goalie
- Tampa Bay Lightning: Yanni Gourde - Forward
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Jared McCann - Forward

Metropolitan Division:
- Carolina Hurricanes: Morgan Geekie - Forward
- Columbus Blue Jackets: Gavin Bayreuther - Defense
- New Jersey Devils: Nathan Bastian - Forward
- New York Islanders: Jordan Eberle - Forward
- New York Rangers: Colin Blackwell - Forward
- Philadelphia Flyers: Carsen Twarynski - Forward
- Pittsburgh Penguins: Brandon Tanev - Forward
- Washington Capitals: Vitek Vanecek - Goalie

Central Division:
- Arizona Coyotes: Tyler Pitlick - Forward
- Chicago Blackhawks: John Quenneville - Forward
- Colorado Avalanche: Joonas Donskoi - Forward
- Dallas Stars: Jamie Oleksiak - Defense
- Minnesota Wild: Carson Soucy - Defense
- Nashville Predators: Calle Järnkrok - Forward
- St. Louis Blues: Vince Dunn - Defense
- Winnipeg Jets: Mason Appleton - Forward

Pacific Division:
- Anaheim Ducks: Haydn Fleury - Defense
- Calgary Flames: Mark Giordano - Defense
- Edmonton Oilers: Adam Larsson - Defense
- Los Angeles Kings: Kurtis MacDermid - Defense
- San Jose Sharks: Alexander True - Forward
- Vancouver Canucks: Kole Lind - Forward

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Kevin Hoffman - Getty Images