An increasing stockpile of Kraken wingers caught up with Andre Burakovsky on Saturday as the Kraken shipped the veteran forward to Chicago with two seasons remaining on his five-year contract.
In return, the Kraken received Blackhawks center Joe Veleno, 25, who’d spent most of the first four seasons of a 306-game career with Detroit ahead of being dealt to Chicago a few months back. It’s not yet clear where Veleno fits on a Kraken roster that has center positions appearing filled on its top three lines with Matty Beniers, Chandler Stephenson and Shane Wright and with major junior level star Berkly Catton hoping to break camp as well this fall.
Burakovsky, 30, had a salary cap hit of $5.5 million in each of the next two seasons remaining on a five-year contract signed in July 2022, meaning the Kraken just cleared some significant room in 2025-26 and beyond. Valeno is owed $2.275 million next season ahead of becoming a restricted free agent.
“Andre was a valuable player for our organization during the three years he was here, and we wish him and his family the best of luck in Chicago," Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said of Burakovsky. "In return, we've acquired a young player with experience while also increasing our salary cap flexibility moving forward."
A move of at least one of the team’s wingers seemed likely following Thursday’s trade with Dallas that brought veteran Mason Marchment to the Kraken in exchange for third-and-fourth-round draft picks. Marchment’s arrival gave the team another winger on a roster that already includes Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, Eeli Tolvanen, Jaden Schwartz and Kaapo Kakko, with the Kraken also hoping some of their AHL prospects, such as Jani Nyman, can make cases for themselves this fall.
All of those players will be seeking spots on the top three lines, where Burakovsky also has made his living throughout a decade-long NHL career that began with the Washington Capitals. Burakovsky joined the Kraken three years ago, coming off a Stanley Cup victory with the Colorado Avalanche, signing a five-year, $27.5 million deal with the hope he could be an above-average scorer for a team needing offensive help at the time.
He led the team with 39 points in February 2023 when he suffered a torn groin muscle on his first shift of a game against the New York Islanders coming out of the All-Star Break. Burakovsky had hoped to make it back for that season’s playoff run, but got derailed by setbacks in the rehabilitation process and didn’t play again until the following season.
He then suffered an upper body injury after a Jacob Trouba bodycheck the season’s opening month and again missed extensive time. He immediately got hurt again with a different upper body injury in his Dec. 7 comeback game and was sidelined three more weeks.
By season’s end, he’d appeared in just 49 games – same as the prior year – with just seven goals and nine assists. He admitted midway through the season that it had been difficult to play without hesitation after suffering so many injuries in such a short time.
“It’s something I maybe need to overcome a little bit,” he said. “Maybe instead of doing what I usually do without thinking I’ll maybe think about it a little bit more. Taking the safe road instead of just playing it out. So I think definitely it’s a confidence thing. I mean, I work on it every day to try to become better. Take it step by step.”
Burakovsky did play a full campaign injury-free this past season, appearing in 79 games while scoring 10 goals and adding 27 assists. He’ll now try to build off that with the Blackhawks.
