Colorado Avalanche buying low on Andre Burakovsky
In search of some secondary offensive production, the Colorado Avalanche have taken a flier on Andre Burakovsky.
The Washington Capitals extended a qualifying offer to Andre Burakovsky this week, but it was not a foregone conclusion they’d keep him. On Friday, the Capitals sent the 24-year old winger to the Colorado Avalanche for minor league forward Scott Kosmachuk, a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 third-round pick.
Burakovsky struggled this past season, registering just 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in 76 regular season games. He had the same point total over 56 games in 2017-18, as his drop-off from 2015-16 (38 points) and 2016-17 (35 points) continued.
Burakovsky also had his ice time drop last season with the Capitals, to just over 11 minutes (11:07) per game compared to over 13 minutes per game in each of the previous three seasons. For Washington, salary cap concerns and his underachievement made Burakovsky a moveable player.
Cap space is not an issue for Colorado, so Burakovsky’s RFA tender amount for this year won’t keep them making more (and perhaps bigger) moves. Burakovsky could accept his $3.25 million qualifying offer, and if a multi-year deal is worked out it would probably come in around that amount in average annual value.
The Avalanche had one of the most productive top lines in the NHL last season, with Nathan McKinnon (99 points) centering Mikko Rantanen (87 points) and Gabriel Landeskog (75 points). But the next highest scorer was defenseman Tyson Barrie (59 points), and the next highest scoring forward (Carl Soderberg-49 points) has been traded to the Arizona Coyotes. As a side note, Rantanen is in line for big contract this offseason.
Next. NHL rumors: 5 teams who could trade for Evgeni Malkin. dark
Colorado is betting on Burakovsky’s lingering pedigree as a first-round pick (23rd overall in 2013), and the idea a change of scenery will somehow unlock him. And they’ve only given up the negotiating rights to a minor league forward, a second-round pick in 2020 and the third-round pick that came from Arizona in the Soderberg deal to take that flier.