Burakovsky signs qualifying offer with Avalanche

The RFA signings continue coming for the Avalanche as Andre Burakovsky has accepted his qualifying offer and signed a one-year deal worth $3.25 million.

It’s a hefty price tag given he’s coming off back to back 25-point seasons but Colorado knew what it was getting into when they traded two draft choices for him just days after the Washington Capitals had extended the qualifying offer to Burakovsky.

Once acquired, the QO became Colorado’s responsibility and ensured he would retain his RFA status. While the two sides likely talked about a different arrangement, the Avalanche had positioned themselves in such a way that Burakovsky’s QO wouldn’t be problematic on their cap sheet.

Burakovsky is expected to begin the season in Colorado’s top-six forward group. He has one year of RFA eligibility remaining.

The signing of Burakovsky has pushed Colorado across the salary cap floor and out of the league-leading cap space they’ve had all summer. With just under $20 million in cap space, the Avalanche still have RFAs to sign in Mikko Rantanen, J.T. Compher, Vladislav Kamenev, Sheldon Dries, A.J. Greer, and Anton Lindholm. Sergei Boikov was tendered a QO but chose to sign with a club in the KHL instead.

As today is the deadline for players accepting their QO, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a couple of the names above also signing sometime today.

Per usual, some of Burakovsky’s fancy stats in case you’re unfamiliar with him: