Capitals winger Andre Burakovsky has had a rough start to his season and was a healthy scratch for a second straight game tonight against Carolina. Accordingly, his name has started to come up in trade discussions, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in an appearance on Sportsnet 960 (audio link).
The 23-year-old has been in trade speculation dating back to last season but he has shown spurts of becoming a top-six player in the past so Washington opted to hold onto him. However, those spurts haven’t been evident too often this season as he has just eight points in 29 games while spending most of the year in their bottom six. That’s not particularly good value for a $3MM cap charge on a team that is once again very tight to the salary cap.
It’s that cap hit that may ultimately make a sell-low move a realistic possibility. Burakovsky is set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer but with a $3.25MM qualifying offer required (his salary for this season), he looks like a prime non-tender candidate as things currently stand. An acquiring team may want to get a look at him to see if a change of scenery is enough to get him going while allowing the Capitals to get some sort of asset back (and perhaps some short-term cap flexibility) over losing him for nothing in June if they are leaning towards not tendering the offer.
It wasn’t that long ago that Burakovsky was viewed as part of Washington’s long-term plans. That doesn’t appear to be the case any longer and even though their potential return in a trade is a lot less than it was just a year or two ago, it still may be the time for the Capitals to move on.
Whenever I’ve watched him play, he seems to be a decent two-way forward with a nice shot. I’d be interested in seeing what he could do with more playing time and opportunities to shoot.
A reunion with Connor McDavid would definitely be interesting.
Good point. I can definitely see the Oilers swinging a trade for him.
I was excited about Burakovsky first came up. He added a lot of energy to the second and third lines that was sorely needed at the time.
But as time went on Andre seemed to have a focus issue. he would disappear in games and not be a factor for weeks at a time. The reason was he was not using his prime asset, his speed. But more than that three different regimes in the coaching staff did not feel he was putting forth his best effort. he wasn’t working for pucks in the corner or skating to the open spot on the ice. It was never really just one thing but a bunch of different things that kept cropping up.
Now with the end of team control looming and the player not being worth the qualifying offer, The time to move on has come. I have no doubt he will be a good player as he matures. I love watching him when he is on his game. U wish him well what ever happens.
As noted above the Oilers would be a good potential landing spot for him. Other possibilities include the Blackhawks (who often seem to like Washington’s trade offers), Minnesota and a reunion with Bruce Boudreau, The Islanders (and Trotz). it should be noted the Oilers have a long injury list and may be in the market for an upgrade at forward…