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Andre Burakovsky

Central Notes: Schenn, Burakovsky, Poolman

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The St. Louis Blues expect to have almost everyone back in their lineup from last season with a few exceptions. However, what about the season after that? General manager Doug Armstrong will have to make some tough decisions with players like Alex Pietrangelo, Joel Edmundson and Brayden Schenn all hitting unrestricted free agency. While it’s likely that all three would like to return on long-term deals, that isn’t likely due to the team’s salary cap situation, growing list of developing prospects as well as the approaching expansion draft.

With that in mind, St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeff Gordon writes that the team’s top priority will be to sign Pietrangelo and that could cause problems for the others, especially Schenn. After an impressive 2017-18 season, Schenn’s numbers dropped as going from 70 points to just 54 last season. However, if Schenn returns to his old numbers, which is very possible as the Blues struggled on the power play last year, he could easily price his way out of St. Louis.

On top of that, with the way players have been paid this offseason on the free-agent market, Schenn could easily command $7MM per year, he’d be an expensive player, especially with ever improving play of Robert Thomas and the Jordan Kyrou. With those two top talents, the Blues’ need for Schenn shouldn’t be as necessary for the 2020-21 season. The team might also not want to bring Schenn back because any deal would likely force them to add a no-movement clause, something the team might be reluctant to do with the expansion draft quickly approaching.

  • The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark (subscription required) writes that Colorado Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic is banking that Andre Burakovsky’s biggest problem in previous seasons with the Washington Capitals was his lack of playing time. The GM believes that if the Avalanche increase his ice time, Burakovksy should be able to take that next step into becoming a solid top-six player. The 24-year-old did score 17 goals and 38 points back in the 2015-16 season, but hasn’t been able to take the next step. He averaged just 11:08 last season and put up just 12 goals and 25 points. With that in mind, Burakovsky is expected to play on the second line for the Avalanche this season and the hope is that new center Nazem Kadri will give him the guidance he needs to develop into a solid scoring winger. The team has struggled with finding a solid No. 2 center, but the GM believes that the team’s second-line woes are about to be over.
  •  The Winnipeg Free Press’ Jason Bell writes that with two gaping holes in the Winnipeg Jets defense this year after the team lost Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot in free agency this summer, Tucker Poolman remains a top candidate to claim one of those two spots. The 26-year-old blueliner has dealt with injury problems in the past, but believes himself to healthy and at 6-foot-4, 215-pounds could be a valuable asset and a cheap one (two years at $775K). The fact that Poolman is right-handed is another advantage as the team only has two veteran right-handed blueliners in Dustin Byfuglien and Neal Pionk. After seeing 24 games with the Jets in 2017-18, he didn’t make an appearance with the Jets last season, but an ankle injury derailed half his season as he only managed to appear in 43 games for the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.

Andre Burakovsky Signs With Colorado Avalanche

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The Colorado Avalanche have inked one of their restricted free agents, signing Andre Burakovsky to a one-year contract. Burakovsky decided not to file for arbitration earlier this month after being issued a $3.25MM qualifying offer, for which the deadline to accept was today. The young forward will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the contract in 2020.

Burakovsky, 24, was acquired by the Avalanche earlier this offseason after playing the last five years with the Washington Capitals. The 23rd-overall pick from 2013 has already amassed 328 regular season games with the Capitals, recording 145 points. Those total include consecutive seasons of 25 points, a disappointing drop that made the talented Austrian available. The Capitals couldn’t afford to keep Burakovsky around for that $3.25MM price tag, but the Avalanche are happy to take a shot on a player that had previously looked like a top-six winger in the making.

It’s difficult to find players with Burakovsky’s skill and size combination, but unfortunately that mix still hasn’t been able to produce a huge offensive season to this point. With a career-high of 38 points now several years behind him, Burakovsky will have to find a different level of success in order to deserve this contract and avoid going non-qualified next summer. Even the Avalanche, who have plenty of cap space at the moment, won’t be able to pay $3.25MM for a 12-goal winger, the total he has reached in each of the past three seasons.

It certainly appears as though he’ll the the opportunity to show he is better than that. The Avalanche have been reliant on their top line for a huge amount of their offense the past few years, but worked hard this summer to expand their attack and bring in some more secondary scoring options. Burakovsky joins Nazem Kadri and Joonas Donskoi as potential options for the second line, though each of them will have to prove their worth in new surroundings.

At the very worst, Burakovsky is a lottery ticket that doesn’t pay out and only cost the Avalanche a pair of draft picks. At best, he finally breaks out and becomes the dominant offensive piece he was in junior. Not a bad gamble for a team looking to make a splash in the Western Conference playoffs this season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Duchene, Donskoi, Vrana, Engelland, McElhinney, Berglund

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While speculation has center Matt Duchene likely signing a long-term deal with the Nashville Predators, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes that the Montreal Canadiens aren’t out of the running yet. While Nashville may still be the favorite to land the star center, Friedman writes that one of his sources says that it’s not locked in and Montreal still is in the race.

Duchene, who grew up a fan of the Canadiens, would be a big addition for the Canadiens if they can land him. Duchene would likely become their top center in hopes of vaulting Montreal back into a playoff spot.

  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that while things are still in the works, he believes that the Colorado Avalanche and an unidentified team are the finalists to sign unrestricted free agent forward Joonas Donskoi. The 27-year-old scored 14 goals and 37 points last season and could provide the team with a solid middle-six option for the Avalanche. While LeBrun notes that he doesn’t know who the other team is, he believes that Buffalo and Edmonton are not in the running anymore.
  • The Washington Capitals managed to trade off one of their key restricted free agents in Andre Burakovsky Friday in hopes of saving some cap room, but even being free of that contract, the money is tight in Washington. In fact, Washington general manager Brian MacLellan said that because the NHL salary cap was lower than expected ($81.5MM), the team will likely be forced to sign restricted free agent Jakub Vrana to a short-term deal, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulliti. Washington had initially planned to lock up Vrana to a long-term deal when the team had expected the cap to be set at $83MM, but with the number being lower than expected, the MacLellan doesn’t believe the team has the money to sign him long-term.
  • Vegas Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee confirmed that the team is close to signing veteran unrestricted free agent defenseman Deryk Engelland, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. The 37-year-old had a down season last year, but the veteran who actually played in Vegas in the ECHL before the Golden Knights came about, has been a community leader there. He is likely expected to take a bottom-six role next season and could find himself more in a 6th/7th role on defense.
  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Montreal Canadiens are among three teams that are interested in signing veteran goaltender Curtis McElhinney. The 36-year-old had a great season in Carolina after the Hurricanes claimed him off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the beginning of the year. He finished the season with a 2.58 GAA and a .912 save percentage in 33 appearances. LeBrun also adds that it doesn’t look like Toronto is one of the other two teams.
  • Former NHL player Patrik Berglund, who walked out on the Buffalo Sabres in the middle of last season, is exploring a return the the NHL and has several teams interested, according to Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland. Berglund, who was packaged to Buffalo in the Ryan O’Reilly trade last offseason, didn’t like it in Buffalo and finally requested that his contract to be terminated after playing just 23 games in a reduced role. The 31-year-old scored 17 goals in the 2017-18 season, but scored just twice before walking away this year.

Colorado Avalanche Acquire Andre Burakovsky

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The Colorado Avalanche have added some more skill and youth to their team, acquiring Andre Burakovsky from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2020 second-round pick, a 2020 third-round pick (previously acquired from Arizona in the Carl Soderberg deal) and minor league forward Scott Kosmachuk. Burakovsky is set to become a restricted free agent, and Kosmachuk is actually set to become a Group VI unrestricted free agent in a few days.

Burakovsky could potentially accept his $3.25MM qualifying offer as well, given that his development hasn’t quite gone the way the Capitals hoped the last few seasons. In fact, the 24-year old forward has now posted two 25-point years in a row, a far cry from the 17-goal 38-point sophomore season that looked like his coming out party. Armed with plenty of speed and skill, Burakovsky was the 23rd-overall pick in the 2013 draft and quickly made his way to the NHL.

In Colorado, he will likely receive a bigger offensive role on the left wing where the Avalanche needed some more depth. A change of scenery may be the key to unlocking his full potential, something the Avalanche will hope for after giving up a not-insignificant package for him. Those two draft picks plus the potential $3.25MM salary is a fair amount of assets for a 25-point player, so he will have pressure on him to perform with his new team.

For Washington, trading Burakovsky was basically inevitable after extending the qualifying offer. The team didn’t have enough cap space to afford him this season and he just wasn’t providing the necessary offense for their championship goals. With a new contract due for Jakub Vrana and potential extensions on the horizon with Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby, moving Burakovsky was an obvious choice. Getting two relatively high draft picks out of the move is a win, though GM Brian MacLellan had tried to secure another young player during the most recent season and wasn’t able to.

At the very least, Washington now has some more ammunition for a potential trade deadline acquisition. Depending on where Vrana falls they could also potentially circle back to 20-goal forward Brett Connolly, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on Monday and was previously too expensive for the team to retain.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Capitals Notes: Burakovsky, Draft, Kempny, Oshie

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The Capitals are listening to offers on winger Andre Burakovsky, reports Brian McNally of NBC Sports Washington.  His case is one of the more intriguing ones heading into Monday’s qualifying offer deadline.  While the 24-year-old has shown flashes of top-six potential, he spent a good chunk of 2018-19 mired on the fourth line.  He has to be qualified at his salary from this past season, $3.25MM and Washington’s cap space is quite limited.  There’s no doubt that there will be teams with interest but can they be persuaded that it’s worth giving him that money or would they be better off trying to get him in free agency instead?  That will limit his trade market over these next few days.

More news around the Capitals:

  • GM Brian MacLellan told reporters, including Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post, that they’re likely to draft a forward with the 25th pick tomorrow night. Washington has drafted several defenders in recent years and have a decent group of prospects on the back end but it has come at the expense of their forward group.  MacLellan indicated that unless a defenseman on the board is rated significantly higher than the next forward on their list, they’d lean towards picking the forward.
  • While there was some question about whether or not defenseman Michal Kempny would be ready for training camp, MacLellan told J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington that he expects the blueliner to be ready when camp gets underway in September. Kempny underwent surgery in April to repair a torn hamstring, a procedure that carries a typical recovery time of four-to-six months.  Fortunately for the Caps, it appears the recovery for Kempny will be on the shorter side.  Winger T.J. Oshie (fractured clavicle) is also expected to be ready for the start of camp.

Metropolitan Notes: Available Draft Picks, Hayes, Orpik, Burakovsky

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With the NHL Entry Draft fast approaching later this week, there are plenty of teams looking to make trades or even better, looking to move up in the draft, especially in the first round. The trick is finding a team who would be willing to move their first-round selection.

The Athletic’s Craig Custance (subscription required) looks at the entire first round and identifies team that might be open to trading their first-round pick and it doesn’t take long to notice that there are plenty of Metropolitan Division teams on his list of teams. The New York Rangers, already picking at the No. 2 position, also have the 20th pick in the draft, acquired from Winnipeg for Kevin Hayes, and might be willing to move that to further hasten their rebuild. In fact, it’s already been rumored to be sent back to Winnipeg as part of a package to acquire Jacob Trouba. The Philadelphia Flyers could be a team that might be willing to move the 11th overall pick as they are also looking to make changes to get them back into the playoff discussion.

Custance adds that you can’t count out either Pittsburgh (#21) or Carolina (#28) as well. The Penguins might be more open to moving the pick as they want to get one more chance at the title before the Sidney Crosby era ends, while Carolina wants to continue with the success they had last year and wants to continually build its core.

  • NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer writes that the Philadelphia Flyers are still working on a new contract for Hayes, according to general manager Chuck Fletcher. The team traded a fifth-round pick to acquire Hayes’ rights recently in hopes they could begin negotiating early and convince him to sign before other teams could be allowed to speak to him. “We’ve had some very good, constructive dialogue with Kevin. We’re continuing to work with his representation. We’ll see how things play out, but so far it’s been a positive process,” Fletcher said.
  • NBC Sports’ J.J. Regan writes that when the Washington Capitals acquired Radko Gudas from Philadelphia for Matt Niskanen, it likely ended the team’s relationship with veteran Brooks Orpik as well. The Capitals already had six defensemen under contract and restricted free agent Christian Djoos would make seven once they re-sign him. That would make Orpik the team’s eighth defenseman and with plenty of cap issues, it would be highly unlikely the team would consider bringing him back. Orpik said he would decide later this offseason whether he would retire or come back for one more year, but if he does want to come back, it’s likely going to be with another team.
  • NBC Sports’ James O’Brien also adds that with the signing of Carl Hagelin to a new four-year extension, that leaves little money left for the rest of their roster. The team already has committed $72.26MM committed to 17 players, leaving them with approximately $10.7MM in cap space to fill out their roster, assuming the salary cap will be set at $83MM this year, which is not a certainty. The team still has a number of key unsigned players, included unrestricted free agent Brett Connolly and restricted free agents Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky. O’Brien wonders whether the Hagelin deal could mean the team considers moving Burakovsky’s rights. The Capitals and Burakovsky have had issues with each other at times, but the 24-year-old might be worth something as he still has quite a bit of talent left in him.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Carl Hagelin To Four-Year Extension

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The Washington Capitals have re-signed one of their top unrestricted free agents as the team announced that it has inked forward Carl Hagelin to a four-year, $11MM extension. The deal will give him a $2.75MM AAV.

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the contract is as follows:

2019-20: $2.5MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2020-21: $2.7MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2021-22: $2MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2022-23: $1.8MM salary

“We are pleased to have signed Carl to a new four year contract,” said Washington general manager Brian MacLellan. “Carl is a versatile player who can play on any line and is an excellent penalty killer. He is a proven winner and provides great leadership to our team.” Hagelin came over to Washington at the trade deadline when the team acquired the speedy forward in exchange for a 2019 third-round pick to give the team some added depth for a playoff run. While they were eventually eliminated in the first round of the playoffs to the Carolina Hurricanes, the team was real happy with his production as he scored three goals and 11 points in 20 regular season games and proved to be a good fit in the team’s middle-six as the veteran is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The trade to Washington seemed to renewed the 30-year-old forward as he struggled with Pittsburgh to start the season, then was traded to Los Angeles in November for Tanner Pearson, but did little to impress them. He finished the season with a combined five goals and 19 points between the three teams. However, in Washington, he fared much better and also played a big role on the Capitals’ penalty kill, averaging 2:21 per game on that unit, first on the team.

One issue was whether the Capitals would have the cap space available to sign Hagelin as the team was very tight against the cap. However, after Saturday’s trade that sent defenseman Matt Niskanen to Philadelphia for Radko Gudas, Washington freed up $3.4MM in cap space, which allowed the team to lock up Hagelin. That won’t be it for changes with Washington as the Capitals still must find some money to lock up restricted free agents Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky. It also suggests the team is likely to allow forward Brett Connolly, who is an unrestricted free agent, to walk away.

Atlantic Notes: Kapanen, Johnsson, Ristolainen, Krejci

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While the Toronto Maple Leafs know what to expect when it comes to the future contract for Mitch Marner, it isn’t as straight forward for their other two key restricted free agents in Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson. Some of the reason for that is that young forwards with little experience who post an impressive season, often don’t get rewarded when they hit restricted free agency and that could easily be the case for the Maple Leafs, according to The Athletic’s Ian Tulloch (subscription required).

Kapanen, who hits restricted free agency for the first time, had an impressive season last year as he put up 20 goals and 44 points as a full-time player. However, before that, he had played a combined 55 games (and tallying just 10 points) over three separate seasons. Johnsson posted very similar numbers as he tallied 20 goals and 43 points in 73 games last season, but has played just 82 games in two years.

There are a number of comparables, however, including Ondrej Kase, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Phillip Danault, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, Teuvo Teravainen and Andre Burakovsky. All of them opted to sign a bridge deal with the hopes to prove to their respective teams that they can score like that consistently, suggesting that each of them may make anywhere from $2.7MM to $3.3MM AAV if they follow suit.

Of course, the problem could come down to offer sheets as both players would likely be prime candidates to sign offer sheets with other teams that could be closer to $4MM with a less risky compensation (just a second-round pick) which could cause quite a bit of havoc to Toronto’s salary cap situation.

  • Despite multiple rumors that the Buffalo Sabres are considering dealing defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who has never been able to take that next step and become a star defenseman like the team thought would happen when he joined the franchise six years ago, TSN’s Darren Dreger (while appearing on WGR 550) said he doesn’t believe that the Sabres will entertain the notion of trading him. Dreger said he doesn’t believe it’s a move the team feels is critical, but general manager Jason Botterill is still open to listening to offers. Of course, one fear of moving him is that Ristolainen could take that next step wherever he gets traded to, which the Sabres would prefer to avoid.
  • NHL.com’s Eric Russo writes that the Boston Bruins have been without center David Krejci for the past few days as the center has been out with an illness. He missed Thursday’s scrimmage and skipped practice on Saturday although head coach Bruce Cassidy said he hopes to have Krejci back on Sunday. “Precautionary,” said Cassidy. “I suspect we’ll see him tomorrow. That is the plan. If he’s not out tomorrow, now there’s a little bit of worry there. But right now, I believe he’ll be practicing tomorrow.”

East Notes: Burakovsky, Skinner, Lee

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Washington’s salary cap situation doesn’t leave them a lot of wiggle room to work with this summer.  Restricted free agent winger Andre Burakovsky is arguably their most intriguing player in need of a new contract.  His qualifying offer checks in at $3.25MM which is on the pricey side for a forward who has scored a dozen goals in each of the last three seasons but at the same time, he’s only 24 and has shown flashes of considerable upside.  Despite that, NBC Sports Washington’s J.J. Regan posits that their $1.15MM bonus overage from 2018-19 (bonuses for fellow RFA Jakub Vrana and UFA blueliner Brooks Orpik) could ultimately force Brian MacLellan to non-tender him next month.  It’s rare that a player with some track record of NHL success becomes available on the open market so if he was to become available, there would undoubtedly be considerable interest in him despite his struggles.

Elsewhere out East:

  • Contract talks between the Sabres and winger Jeff Skinner are expected to resume this week at the Draft Combine, reports Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link). Talks between the two sides have gone back several months but they’ve yet to find an agreement just yet.  Complicating matters is that Skinner had a torrid start that saw him score 30 goals in his first 44 games.  However, he had just ten in 38 contests the rest of the way.  It’s plausible to think that Skinner will want to be paid for reaching the 40-goal mark while Buffalo GM Jason Botterill will be looking for a cheaper deal given his late struggles and concussion history.
  • With Brock Nelson now locked up for six more years, the Islanders will likely shift their focus to captain Anders Lee, notes Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post. There is mutual interest in getting a deal done but the issue continues to be the term of the deal.  The winger will turn 29 in July so a near max-term pact will certainly carry some risk; Cyrgalis suggests the Isles may not want to go more than four years.  However, he’s a big part of their attack and one of the top wingers on the open market so GM Lou Lamoriello will likely have to compromise and give him a longer-term contract to keep Lee in the fold.

Andre Burakovsky Hopes To Stay In Washington

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Over the last several seasons the Washington Capitals have been navigating a tricky cap situation, regularly sitting right at the upper limit with very little flexibility. As the 2019 offseason gets underway they have some tough decisions about how to keep their group competitive without overspending. Players like Brett Connolly may end up as cap casualties after earning raises, while others may find themselves on the trade block to free up some room. One of the examples of the latter is Andre Burakovsky, whose restricted free agent situation was examined today by Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post.

Khurshudyan breaks down how the Capitals in the past have decided not to issue qualifying offers only to continue negotiations anyway, even using Connolly himself as an example from a few years ago. That’s the tactic she expects the team to use in Burakovsky’s case, given the expensive $3.25MM offer the team would need to extend. Still, it’s not like the young forward wants to go anywhere else:

I love Washington, I love my teammates, I love everyone around — everything, the organization. My goal is to stay, and hopefully I will be able to.

Burakovsky, 24, recorded just 25 points in 76 games this season, the worst scoring rate of his career so far. Originally selected 23rd overall in 2013, he has never seemed to find the offensive production that he experienced in junior. In fact, with a career high of just 38 points through five seasons there is reason to doubt he’ll ever really fully reach his potential.

The Capitals are still in a window of Stanley Cup contention while the core is in tact, but need to find a way to surround Alex Ovechkin and company with a better supporting cast. Connolly, Carl Hagelin, Devante Smith-Pelly and Brooks Orpik are all scheduled to become unrestricted free agents, leaving some relatively substantial holes on the depth chart. With a new contract for Jakub Vrana the biggest priority of the offseason—except perhaps extensions for Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby—the team has plenty of work to do over the next few weeks.

Still, if Burakovsky could be retained on a more inexpensive contract he would be a very valuable asset. Leaving him without a qualifying offer is obviously a risk, given that it would make him an unrestricted free agent, but if he is committed to the organization it may be the savvy move by GM Brian MacLellan. Teams have until June 25th to submit qualifying offers.

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