After appearing in just 22 contests during his first season with Nashville which was cut short, in part, due to injury, Borowiecki has bounced back to become a reliable force on the backend for the Predators. But, more importantly, he's been open about his mental health, and the father of two is now living his best life.
"This is a mindset that I've kind of flipped," Borowiecki said back in September during training camp. "You can't look at these challenges, these hard practices as obstacles, right? They have to be opportunities for you to get better and get ready for the season and an opportunity for you to impress people who are evaluating you. I think when we look at these tough days as opportunities, it kind of lightens the load a little bit and makes me realize that, 'Hey, this is a chance for me to go out here and prove myself and do good things and learn and be better as a player.'"
He's done just that over the past seven months, and after Predators General Manager David Poile called Borowiecki the team's most improved player during a radio interview earlier this season, the defenseman was rewarded with a one-year contract to keep him in Nashville through the 2022-23 campaign.
As if Borowiecki couldn't have been happier already.
"From the off-ice side of things, my family is just very comfortable here," Borowiecki said earlier this month. "Nashville is a great home. The community has made us feel very welcome, and there's a lot of really kind people here that really eased our transition. Our son Miles has a great little school he loves, he's making friends, some great parents there, and Tara and I just really enjoy the amenities of the city and the people here.
"Then from an on-ice perspective, anytime you're kind of a role player who plays the way that I do and does the job that I do, when you find an organization, management, coaching staff, teammates, kind of everyone top to bottom who appreciates what you do and respects what you do, there's no sense in going to look for anything else. Sometimes guys like me aren't valued the way they are here, so it really means a lot to me and I'm very grateful for that respect and that value placed on my role."
This is Borowiecki's second career nomination for the Masterton Trophy; the first came in 2018 as a member of the Ottawa Senators. Former Predators forward Steve Sullivan won the award in 2009.
