TLN Top Prospect Rankings 2017: #12 Andreas Borgman

Coming in right in front of the other recently signed, early 20s defenceman who we know nothing about (Calle Rosen) is Andreas Borgman!

As is the case with Rosen, it’s really hard to tell what Borgman projects to be. At 22, Borgman is an older prospect and is approaching the age in which hockey players typically peak in terms of production, but we have a rather small sample size on him. He’s never been a big point producer, but last year he scored five goals and added ten assists in 45 games during his first season in the Swedish Hockey League, a pretty similar rate to Rosen the year before, who is a year older.

Borgman is a left hand shot defenceman who is listed at six feet tall and 210 pounds. He went undrafted in his draft year (2013) despite being ranked 36th among international skaters at the time. Borgman is coming off a season in which he won the SHL rookie of the year and gathered a lot of interest among NHL teams. Another reason why he gained so much NHL interest this summer is because of recency bias his playoff run, during which he put up ten points in 14 games.

He looks to be a really smooth skater, but I’m sure you already gathered that when I said he was a Swedish defenceman. He also looks like he can really shoot the puck and shows some pretty decent offensive instincts, but then again it’s a highlight pack. It’s literally only his very best moments. Either way, I like the tools he seems to possess and it’s going to be interesting to see if he can turn them into some good results in the AHL this season.

Borgman is most likely going to play for the Marlies for the entire season, based on the depth in the organization on the left side of the blueline. You have Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly locked into the two top four roles while Martin Marincin, Travis Dermott and Rosen will all challenge for that last spot on the bottom pairing along with Borgman. Marincin has already proven he can be an efficient depth defender, while there has been a lot of talk this summer about Dermott potentially taking that spot out of camp. James Mirtle of The Athletic has mentioned this time and time again and his job is to be well connected with the franchise and the people involved in it, so there might be something to that. What I’m saying is that I would bet on Marincin/Dermott winning that spot over the field any day of the week, so that likely leaves Borgman and Rosen with the Marlies as call up candidates in case of injury.

We’ll get a good look at him in the preseason soon, if you weren’t lucky enough to catch his SHL exploits this past season.

I really like the signing of both Borgman and Rosen as they seem to be pretty similar caliber players and they didn’t cost anything to acquire. I’m not sure if either will turn into significant players, but they’re good bets to make when you’re risking nothing other than a contract spot and they could probably fill in just fine in a bottom pair right now if they ever had to. Both players seem to possess the ability to move the puck up ice and skate well which is what I look for in defencemen. The age is also perfect as they’re young, but not “four years away from NHL ready” young. They’re nearly in their peak years.

(Editor’s note: or also “Dylan was a very busy young man over the last few days and wanted some help to finish”: However, that also means they could just as easily be out of the organization if things turn south. As Borgman’s on a two-year deal, the Leafs have only given him a pair of seasons to prove himself. He will be an RFA when the contract expires, but we’ve seen time and time again the tale of a “older, promising player” actually just be code for “AHL Lifer.” We’ll see!)