The No. 23 pick by the Washington Capitals in the 2013 NHL Draft, Burakovsky showcased his skills to fit right in with a talented lineup as a teenager, with expectations of an expanded role.

The son of former NHL defenseman Robert Burakovsky, who played one season with the Ottawa Senators in 1993-94, Andre Burakovsky was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, where his father was playing at the time, but was raised in Malmo, Sweden.

Burakovsky rose through the ranks of Malmo's hockey program, making his pro debut with the Malmo's second division program as a 16-year-old in 2011-12 before landing a regular spot in the second division for 2012-13.

After he was selected by the Capitals, Burakovsky was the No. 5 pick by Erie in the Canadian Hockey League's Import Draft. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound wing scored 41 goals and 87 points in 57 games in 2013-14 for Erie, where he was a teammate of 16-year-old Connor McDavid. He also scored 10 goals in 14 playoff games.

Burakovsky made the opening-night roster in 2014-15 and scored his first career goal in his NHL debut in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens. He finished with nine goals and 22 points in 53 games and a plus-12 rating, and added two goals in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff games, both on May 6, 2015, in a 2-1 victory in Game 4 in a second-round series against the New York Rangers.

In 2015-16, Burakovsky appeared in 79 games and had a respectable 17 goals and 38 points. Though he started the season slowly, enduring a 25-game stretch in which he failed to score a goal and had just three assists, he was bumped up to a second-line role in January and finished the season with 14 goals over his final 44 games, including a five-game goal-scoring streak from Jan. 19-Feb. 6.