Maybe Boro is playing it completely differently than we are assuming.
Maybe everyone, including the Sens, think that he will re-sign here for cheap and its a done deal just because he is from the city, thus the no negotiations and the "contracts can get done quickly" quotes. BUT maybe Boro, as quoted, is actually looking out for his family and won't accept PooGene's low-ball offer because he wants to "look out for his family" by getting more term and more money as a UFA. This is the NHL, a league where character and grit are sought after just as much as skill, he will get a nice offer from someone.
Sure...
Senators' Mark Borowiecki continues heroics for hometown team - Sportsnet.ca
Watching Borowiecki endure all, bounce back, prevail, were 25 scouts in the Buffalo press box. If they didn’t know yet what Borowiecki was all about, that final scene would have sold them on the value of this unrestricted free agent as the trade deadline approaches.
Fans in Ottawa who, for a time, didn’t fully appreciate the intangibles of Borowiecki, would expect no less than him sacrificing his body with the game on the line — regardless of the Senators’ low league rank.
“It’s just the way you’re wired, it’s not really a conscious thing,” Borowiecki said. “Off the ice I’m a pretty tame guy, but you go out there and a switch flips. You’re just a competitor, you’re playing instinctively and not really thinking about it. It doesn’t matter what place our team is or where we are in terms of a rebuild, it’s just the way I’m going to play and what I’m going to bring. It’s a point of pride.”
Senators head coach D.J. Smith was once a tough player himself, but when he’s asked if he’s ever seen anyone as tough as Borowiecki, he answers swiftly.
“No,” Smith said. “I mean, he’s mentally tough, physically tough. He conditions himself harder than anyone else. And when you train harder than everyone else, I think you have an edge on everybody. Mentally, you know you can go the extra distance. You know you’re maybe more prepared than other people. I haven’t seen many guys in hockey that work as hard as he does before and after [a game]. He takes care of himself. And when you have a guy playing that hard, the guys on the bench notice.
“We have a lot of fearless guys but he certainly leads the way.”
In his own mind, Borowiecki was such an afterthought for the 2008 draft, he didn’t bother to attend. And the event was being held in Kanata, Ont. — a small suburb outside Ottawa — where he grew up and has lived his entire life.