Report: Promising, 21 year-old UFA signing with the Leafs?

Swedish Elite League team HV71 has announced that its star defenseman, Andreas Borgman, has left the team and will sign a contract to play in the NHL for 2017-18. Where he ends up hasn’t yet been determined, but NHL insiders are speculating that it could be Toronto.

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has been in Europe scouting talent at the IIHF World Hockey Championships and admitted to TSN insider Darren Dreger that it was his intention to sign players for 2017-18 while on his working vacation. Might he be hinting at Borgman?

Wherever Borgman ends up, his new NHL team will be acquiring a steady two-way defender who managed 10 points in 14 games en route to HV71’s league championship in the SEL. The 21 year-old averaged nearly 20 minutes per game on the team’s blue line this season as a rookie. At 6’ tall and 205 lbs, there’s little doubt that Borgman can transition to the size and physicality of the NHL even at such a young age.