SEATTLE — The Seattle Kraken avoided salary arbitration with defenseman Will Borgen on Friday, agreeing to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $2.7 million a season.
Seattle also announced a one-year deal with veteran forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.
Borgen, 26, is coming off the best season of his career after playing in all 82 regular-season games for Seattle. Borgen set career highs in goals (three) and assists (17) and averaged more than 16 minutes, regularly paired with Jamie Oleksiak on Seattle’s blue line.
In the playoffs, Borgen appeared in all 14 games for Seattle and had one goal and two assists.
Borgen was a restricted free agent and had filed for salary arbitration before the sides came to an agreement. He was selected by Seattle from Buffalo during the expansion draft.
Bellemare, 38, agreed to a one-year deal worth $775,000. Bellemare played in 73 games last season for Tampa Bay and had four goals and nine assists. He also has played for Vegas, Colorado and Philadelphia in his career. Bellemare was with the Flyers when current Seattle coach Dave Hakstol was in charge in Philadelphia.