Blackhawks wisely offload Andre Burakovsky to Senators for draft pick

In the extreme sellers’ market that exists in the NHL this summer, even the worst assets still hold value.

That fact was acutely demonstrated by the Blackhawks‘ ability to trade veteran forward Andre Burakovsky to the Senators on Friday — hours before the draft — and get a 2027 sixth-round pick back for him.

Burakovsky, whose age curve seems to be hitting hard at age 31, struggled to a comical degree during the second half of last season, recording only four points in 37 games from Jan. 9 on — even while remaining stapled to Connor Bedard’s wing for the majority of that time.

The Hawks were outscored 32-13 during Burakovsky’s five-on-five ice time during that span, and his confidence eventually fell so low that turnovers became more common than completed passes. It was one of the most disastrous half-seasons by a individual player in recent memory.

“Things have not been coming easy,” Burakovsky said in March. “But I’ve experienced this before in my career, where maybe you start doubting yourself a little bit and confidence is going down and it becomes harder to play.”

Burakovsky is vastly overpaid, too, with a $5.5 million salary-cap hit on his contract that has one year left. Because of that contract, the Hawks were able to acquire him for essentially nothing from the Kraken last summer. In that trade, the return was Joe Veleno, whom the Kraken promptly bought out.

Burakovsky then seemed like a logical buyout candidate himself entering this summer. But thanks to this absurd trade market, he actually turned to be worth something. The Hawks didn’t have to retain any salary, either.

The Hawks now own 11 picks in the 2027 draft, compared to just six in the 2026 draft (pending more moves Friday and Saturday).

Compared to what the Hawks gave up in their extremely bold trade for Bowen Byram earlier this week, this Burakovsky deal is a drop in the bucket, one that will have no effect whatsoever — unlike the Byram acquisition — on general manager Kyle Davidson’s legacy.

But it’s still remarkable in its own way.