Senators Re-sign Mark Borowiecki for 3 Years
The Senators have locked up the Ottawa native until 2018
Seemingly out of nowhere, the Ottawa Senators have re-signed Mark Borowiecki to a three-year deal:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>BREAKING: The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sens?src=hash">#Sens</a> have agreed to terms with defenceman Mark Borowiecki on a three-year contract extension.</p>— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) <a href="https://twitter.com/Senators/statuses/501358245387071488">August 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>DERNIÈRE HEURE : Les <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sens?src=hash">#Sens</a> s'entendent sur les termes d'une prolongation de contrat de trois ans avec le défenseur Mark Borowiecki.</p>— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) <a href="https://twitter.com/Senators/statuses/501358376979152896">August 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
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If Borowiecki becomes an NHL regular this season or next, the deal will be quite affordable:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The AAV on Mark Borowiecki’s three-year extension is $1.1M ($1.0M, $1.1M, $1.2M). <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sens?src=hash">#Sens</a></p>— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) <a href="https://twitter.com/Senators/statuses/501358801920872449">August 18, 2014</a></blockquote>
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However, if he struggles to get into the lineup regularly, it becomes a somewhat expensive contract for a team that had to ship Joe Corvo to the Chicago Wolves as part of a salary dump.
Many questioned the logic of giving Borowiecki a two-year deal with a one-way contract in the final year (2014-2015) on the basis of eight NHL games. He's now inked a three-year, one-way ticket to the NHL on the basis of 21 games. The timing is certainly questionable on this deal. What was the rush to re-sign Borowiecki? Why not wait and see what he accomplished in a full NHL season? Why not let things naturally shake out on a clogged blue line?
Finally, locking up a local, physical player on what is a very cheap deal for an NHL regular might be a bad omen for the future of Eric Gryba and Patrick Wiercioch as Senators.