After his retirement, there was speculation Borowiecki may return to Ottawa to take a job with his hometown NHL team.
When Ottawa hockey fans talk about former Senator defenceman Mark Borowiecki, they usually do so fondly, remembering him as a humble, thoughtful, heart and soul-guy who always stood up for teammates.
Very few Senators can match the work that Borowiecki and his wife, Tara, did around Ottawa – their hometown – for both community and charity. The guy was even willing to host his own talk show, a famously ill-fated, one-episode series called, "This Wasn't My Idea."
That was... something.
In any event, when Borowiecki announced his retirement in May, and made it clear that he wanted to stay in hockey, it seemed like a natural, perfect fit that he would join the Ottawa Senators in some capacity.
Borowiecki blew that up that idea today like it was a rookie with his head down. He reportedly signed on with his other former team.
There are plenty of reasons for the Borowiecki family to want to live and work in Nashville. It's a fantastic city. As much as Borowiecki loves Ottawa, the zero state income taxes, Music City's entertainment scene and the never-being-minus-40-with-the-windchill-when-you-leave-the-rink effect can really grow on you after a while.
It's not known if the Senators reached out to Borowiecki with a job offer at any point in the past eight weeks. You'd like to think they tried at least. But amidst the uncertainty of an ownership change, it's not hard to imagine missing an easy lay-up like that.
Regardless, Borowiecki loves Nashville and the feeling is mutual. Outgoing Predators' GM David Poile was asked about Borowiecki's future on the day of his retirement.
"If he doesn't want to play anymore, I certainly would like to talk to him," Poile said to nhl.com. "I've talked to Barry (Trotz) about that. Boro's been around all the time. I said to him yesterday we missed Boro in our lineup – not only his physical presence, but the person that he is. He's a real mentor to the younger guys."
Poile is known for being one of the nicest guys in the league and was honoured at the NHL Draft Wednesday for his five decades in the league.
As Trotz moves into the GM's office in Nashville, there's definitely some symmetry to a good guy like Poile stepping down at the same time a good guy like Borowiecki is stepping in – like a passing of the torch.
With the smarts, hard work and character he has, who'd be surprised to see Borowiecki in Poile's chair someday? Ottawa's loss is Nashville's game.