Senators Acquire Andre Burakovsky

According to a team announcement, the Ottawa Senators have acquired forward Andre Burakovsky from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2027 sixth-round pick. Frank Seravalli of Victory+ was the first to report the trade details.

It’s been some time since Burakovsky was considered a viable top-six winger. Dating back to his time with the Avalanche, Burakovsky scored 61 goals and 150 points in 191 games while in Denver, helping the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 2022.

Burakovsky parlayed his impressive year with Colorado into a five-year, $27.5MM contract with the upstart Seattle Kraken. Unfortunately, despite being relatively productive with the Kraken in his first year, injuries took their toll, and he has never fully recovered from that lost time.

Eventually, the Kraken ripped off the band-aid, sending Burakovsky to the Blackhawks for Joe Veleno, who they eventually bought out. In Chicago, he actually got off to a decent start, scoring 10 goals and 29 points in 41 games to begin the season.

However, his performance declined significantly during the second half of the season. Since mid-January, Burakovsky has registered one goal and four points in 34 games for the Blackhawks. Due to his lack of production, Burakovsky became a potential buyout candidate for Chicago, but they at least managed to receive an asset in return, regardless of its perceived value.

For Ottawa, despite the low acquisition cost, the trade almost appears as a favor to the Blackhawks. The Senators now have less than $10MM in cap space heading into the draft, and although they could use more offense, Burakovsky’s lengthy cold streaks cannot be overlooked. If Burakovsky goes through another one in Ottawa, they may be kicking themselves for trading for him rather than finding a more cost-effective option on the free agent market.