Avalanche adds more youth, skill, unanswered questions in trade with Capitals

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Joe Sakic is at it again. For the seventh time in his time as general manager and third in the last 12 months, Sakic has traded draft picks in exchange for immediate NHL help.

Using the third round pick they acquired earlier in the week from Arizona in exchange for Carl Soderberg, the Avalanche added their own 2020 second round pick and minor league free agent Scott Kosmachuk into a package sent to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Andre Burakovsky.

Burakovsky, 24, is an interesting addition to a lineup in search of additional scoring punch beyond its top three forwards. Coming off back-to-back 25-point seasons (12g, 13a in each), Burakovsky’s addition is certainly no guarantee of improved scoring.

The young Swede has struggled with injuries, never playing a full 82 games in his five NHL seasons to date. He’s especially struggled with injuries to his hands as he’s suffered multiple broken bones in his hands the last couple years, hindering what appeared to be an upward trajectory.

The Washington Post has reported that Burakovsky had requested a trade from the Capitals in recent days and despite general manager Brian McLellan saying publicly he wanted to keep him, it was obvious the price point of his qualifying offer ($3.25 million) was simply too high given his stagnant production.

Burakovsky comes to Colorado after being tendered his QO, meaning the Avalanche retain his rights but the two sides can work towards a deal that’s a little more palatable given his underwhelming production.

The deal presents a number of interesting talking points as it doesn’t clearly make the Avalanche significantly better on the surface but there are some very real upsides. For one, Burakovsky has great size, standing at 6’3″ and weighing over 200 pounds. He’s a great skater at his size and possesses potentially elite shooting ability.

To that end, Burakovsky is a 12.8% shooter in his career, suggesting if he simply increased his shot volume, he could elevate himself into the class of 20-goal scorers in the league. He’s spent the majority of his career buried in Washington’s deep forward lineup and averaged a career-low 11:08 of ice time last season. In fact, through his five seasons, he’s averaged only 12:45 of ice time per game and his career high is only 13:50.

Burakovsky’s scoring rates have been solid in his career and suggest he’s a player who could do more given a more prominent role. As a player who was almost even-strength only, it will be interesting to see if the Avalanche choose to utilize him on the power play more as they look to replace Colin Wilson.

The versatility of Wilson was going to be something the Avalanche wanted to replace this summer and Burakovsky is a player who has experience playing both right and left wing so that’s another box checked.

For those looking for the upside in this deal, it has a similar feel as when the Carolina Hurricanes acquired Teuvo Teravainen from the Chicago Blackhawks a few years ago. Teravainen went on to see his offensive numbers explode when put next to similarly talented players and has become a key cog for the Hurricanes. The Avalanche are hopeful something similar comes out of acquiring Burakovsky.

Now that Burakovsky is on board, the Avalanche simply have to surround him with more talent. He has proven zero ability to drive a line on his own at a high level as most of his on-ice impacts swing towards neutral.

The expectation from the Avalanche front office that Burakovsky produce more is fine but if they don’t do more next week in free agency to give him meaningful help, they will have doomed this move from the start. Burakovsky just isn’t enough on his own to improve the top-six.

As always, I’ve included some of his fancy charts below so you can get a deeper look at who Burakovsky is.