It’s a good thing for André Burakovsky that his trade to the Chicago Blackhawks fit into the family vacation plans.
After Seattle Kraken general manager Jason Botterill informed Burakovsky he had been traded Saturday for fellow forward Joe Veleno, “I told my wife (Johanna) right away and she was very excited too.”
“She told me last season she wanted to go to Chicago, visit the city, and now we’re going to live there,” Burakovsky said Wednesday during his introductory news conference with Chicago media. “We’re super excited about it, and Chicago was my favorite team growing up.”
Burakovsky is taking a welcoming attitude to his restart with a rebuilding franchise. He hasn’t had a lot of positives in recent seasons, with injuries limiting him to 49 games in each of his first two seasons in Seattle.
“Started off really good in my first season and then I got injured,” he said.
A groin injury in February 2023 cost him the remainder of that season, and an upper-body injury knocked him out for more than six weeks in the first half of 2023-24. Then he sustained another upper-body injury in his first game back in early December and missed the next nine games. He missed four more games the rest of the season.
He played 79 games last season but generated only 10 goals and 27 assists.
“Last year was a little bit of a struggle to come back from those injuries,” he said, “but I finished the season after the trade deadline really well, and that’s something I want to bring into the next season coming up now.”
He said he has been working hard this summer and believes his health issues are behind him. Regardless of his injury history, there’s little risk and plenty of upside for the Hawks.
The Kraken were looking to unload Burakovsky’s contract and were probably happy to find a taker without having to retain salary.
The Hawks are rolling the dice that Burakovsky can rediscover his old game that saw him produce 61 points (22 goals, 39 assists) during his final season with the Colorado Avalanche, which culminated in a Stanley Cup championship in 2022.
Burakovsky scored the overtime winner in Game 1 of the finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the third playoff game-winner in his career. The 11-year veteran has two Cups in his cupboard, the other coming in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, who drafted him with the 23rd pick in 2013.
That’s another selling point for the Hawks: the opportunity to bring a player with Cup experience into the locker room.
“It’s the hardest trophy to win in the world, in my opinion, and I know a lot of people say that too,” Burakovsky said. “To be able to win, you have to perform every single day, every single game, every single practice.
“There’s no rest days in practice. You’ve got to go all out. If you get a good practice, there’s a bigger chance you’re going to play the game (well), so that’s something I’m going to bring to the young guys” in Chicago.
Burakovsky’s addition also aligns with the team’s mission to play faster.
“I can bring a lot of speed,” he said. “I’m a player that likes to challenge guys one on one, make plays, create opportunities for my teammates, play a lot offensively, bring that aspect to the game.”
He also improved his defense while with the Kraken, he said. Burakovsky hopes he can help instill those standards and make the Hawks contenders again.
“Obviously there’s a lot of talent in Chicago,” he said. “I can fit in right where I can help them to be better, to create more opportunities, set up some plays.”
He’ll have a built-in ally in former Kraken teammate Ryan Donato, who just signed a four-year, $16 million deal to stay in Chicago. Donato is helping him find a place to live in Chicago.
“I reconnected with him a little bit and (I’m) looking forward to seeing him and all the guys on the team,” Burakovsky said.