The Blackhawks have made a fairly expensive bet on Andre Burakovsky rediscovering his former self after acquiring him in a trade from the Kraken on Saturday.
Burakovsky, 30, used to be an excellent complementary scorer with the Avalanche, but his three-year stint in Seattle did not go well.
The Hawks sent depth forward Joe Veleno to the Kraken in exchange. Veleno, 25, had a brief and forgettable stint in Chicago after being acquired from the Red Wings (for Petr Mrazek and Craig Smith) at the deadline in March.
The former first-round pick tallied seven points in 18 games for the Hawks, bringing his full-season total to 17 points. He was a buyout candidate this summer because his age would’ve made the buyout extremely cheap. Instead, he’s on the move again.
There’s no question Burakovsky is a better player than Veleno, but their contracts balance out their value. Burakovsky has two years left with a $5.5 million salary-cap hit.
In fact, it’s somewhat surprising the Kraken were able to unload that contract so easily, even in this rising-cap offseason. But the Hawks have oodles of cap space, so it won’t be problematic on their end from that standpoint.
Burakovsky analysis
What the Hawks likely saw in Burakovsky is a career-long extremely efficient scorer coming off two injury-plagued and unlucky seasons, making him a buy-low opportunity.
The Austria native has only ever scored more than 45 points in a season once; that was in 2021-22 with the Avalanche, when he erupted for 61 points, then added eight points in the playoffs and won the Stanley Cup. That huge year earned him this huge contract with the Kraken.
Even though he previously never accumulated huge point totals, however, the way he had been earning points was impressive.
He skated well and had an excellent shot, boasting a 12.8% shooting percentage in five seasons with the Capitals and a ridiculous 17.2% shooting percentage in three years with the Avalanche. Those are far above the NHL average. In fact, over his three years with the Avalanche, he had the fourth-highest mark in the league.
He was actually fantastic again in 2022-23 in Seattle, leading the team with 39 points in 49 games before suffering a season-ending groin injury in February.
But that derailed things. He missed time due to injury four separate times in 2023-24 and didn’t do much when in the lineup, recording only 16 points in 49 games. He stayed healthy in 2024-25 but tallied just 37 points in 79 games, although he finished well with 13 in his last 14.
His shooting percentage has been just 7.6% and 8.7% the last two seasons, respectively, accounting for a big chunk of that downturn.
The Hawks will hope a change of scenery, a bigger role and more time passing since his injury woes lead to a renaissance. If Burakovsky can turn back the clock two or three years, he could make a big impact on this offense-starved group.
But it’s uncertain if, and perhaps unlikely that, he can do so.