Senators Open To Trading Andre Burakovsky

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (per TSN’s Bruce Garrioch), the Ottawa Senators are looking to move on from winger André Burakovsky. Ottawa acquired Burakovsky at the 2026 NHL Draft from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2027 sixth-round pick.

Despite the relatively low cost, it was a surprising acquisition by the Senators. Essentially, since he signed his five-year, $27.5MM ($5.5MM AAV) contract with the Seattle Kraken ahead of the 2022-23 season, Burakovsky has been a sunk cost. Since signing the contract, Burakovsky has either been injured or not performing at a level that matches his salary when healthy.

Still, it has been a relatively surprising drop-off in production. In three years with the Avalanche, Burakovsky scored 61 goals and 150 points in 191 regular-season contests, while winning a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022.

Unfortunately, throughout his time with the Kraken, Burakovsky mustered only 30 goals and 92 points in 177 contests with a -27 rating, averaging 15:03 of ice time per game. After the 2024-25 campaign, Seattle traded Burakovsky to the Blackhawks for Joe Veleno, whom the Kraken bought out just a few days later. In his lone season with Chicago, Burakovsky registered 11 goals and 33 points in 75 games with a -32 rating, averaging 16:25 of ice time per game.

Aside from the two trips to the injured reserve with the Senators, Burakovsky hasn’t been productive. The Klagenfurt, Austria, native has gone scoreless in eight games with a -2 rating, averaging 11 minutes of ice time per game.

As much as the Senators would like to move on from Burakovsky, it won’t be easy. There are a few teams that could give Burakovsky more ice time, but none of those teams are competing for the postseason. Furthermore, even if a team needs a fill-in winger, they won’t have the cap space to absorb Burakovsky’s relatively large salary.