I have always had a soft spot for Mark Borowiecki, and he played his best hockey in Ottawa. Before being traded, he was looking like a legit #5 D. He has regressed in Nashville, but is still a very serviceable #7-8 D. On top of that, he is a hard worker who leads to by example.

There was an alleged rumor that he wasn't re-signed because he was too candid about what was wrong with the team when asked by someone involved with the team, and it got back to Melnyk. Melnyk is now gone, let's bring our boy home.

Austin Watson has been fine as a 4th liner in Ottawa. I might be imagining this, but I think he was available at the trade deadline. He's played his part in the rebuild as a 4th liner to answer fights and give the team a much needed back bone. While he isn't overpaid, I am sure the Senators would love to dump salary anywhere they can. Since Nashville might lose Filip Forsberg, bringing back a veteran fan favorite like Austin Watson can help fans forget about that loss if Forsberg does in fact walk. Basically a trade to change the narrative from "Wow I can't believe they lost Forsberg for nothing" to "I am so excited that Austin Watson is back!".

Should they bring them back, or what?

I don’t think Ottawa can bring this type of Dman in for the third straight year. It hasn’t worked out twice now. While Boro was great in Ottawa, he and Watson both play great roles for both respective teams.

Watson is an gamer. Blocks shots and plays a great team game. I don’t think he should be traded and I don’t think Boro fits into the defence core in Ottawa anymore

I am assuming the Senators are going to try and find a way to dump Zaitsev. Possibly as a moving piece in one of their big acquisitions, or in exchange for a forward who is also overpaid (cap) but might have a more ideal salary structure. I also think Del Zotto is also gone one way or another. No one knows exactly what happened, but it seems like there were issues with him as a fit off the ice. They traded away Brown at the deadline, and they are not qualifying Mete. What do those players have in common? They killed penalties. The Senators might need to bring in or promote someone who can kill penalties on the backend. It depends on if they want to put Sanderson in that spot. As of now, they only have Holden, Hamonic, and Zub.

That is where Borowiecki would be useful. He'd be a 6th-7th type D, who maybe doesn't slot in every game. He can kill penalties. He is cheap salary wise. He played the best hockey of his career under DJ Smith, and he is great in the room.

As far as Watson goes, there is nothing wrong with him, but the Senators are going to look to cut cash any way they can, and while a savings of 600k may sound trivial, every dollar is going to count for the Senators, as it always does. Watson was originally brought in because he was an easy to acquire veteran who played in a way that fit the team's identity, and they didn't want to ice a team of all kids without any mature voices in the room. The key guys like Tkachuk, Norris, Chabot, and Batherson all are a bit more experienced, and swapping Watson for Boro' is 1 veteran out and 1 veteran in. They also may be able to replace Watson's spot on the fourth line internally with someone coming up in Belleville. Parker Kelly, while not as big or as good as Watson, is someone who plays big and could replace him on the fourth line. Every dollar counts.