Andre Burakovsky's up-and-down tenure with the Capitals is over.
The 24-year-old winger is headed to Colorado in a deal that will see the Avalanche send second- and third-round picks in the 2020 NHL Draft to Washington along with pending unrestricted free agent forward Scott Kosmachuk, the teams announced Friday.
HELLO!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/RM3ezXVjJK
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) June 28, 2019
"We are excited to be adding a big, fast, skilled winger like Andre," Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said in a release. "He already has a lot of NHL experience at a young age and is a Stanley Cup winner who has performed well in the playoffs. At just 24 he is entering the prime years of his career and we feel with an added role, he will be a great addition to our team."
Trade rumors have swirled around Burakovsky for months, but the Capitals had kept open their options, extending a qualifying offer to the former first-round pick earlier this week. That came days after general manager Brian MacLellan told The Washington Post the team had no intention of simply giving away Burakovsky.
“We like the player," MacLellan said. "There’s been some inconsistencies there, but when he’s on his game, he’s a good player. We’d like to keep him around, but obviously his name is out there a little bit, so we do talk to some teams about him. But we’re not going to move him unless we get something we’re comfortable with (what we get) back.”
The two draft picks apparently cleared that bar for Washington's third-line left wing.
Love ya brother. Good luck the rest of the way, see you in the corners!!! @andreburakovsky pic.twitter.com/q4XEZm8hjY
— Tom Wilson (@tom_wilso) June 28, 2019
Burakovsky posted 12 goals and 13 assists each of the last two seasons, but he played in 20 more games in 2018-19 after battling injuries during the Capitals' run to the Stanley Cup title the season before.
In all, he has 62 goals and 83 assists in 328 NHL games.
