Blackhawks acquire Andre Burakovsky for Joe Veleno in trade with Kraken

New York Times

5 hours ago

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired two-time 20-goal scorer Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for Joe Veleno on Saturday.
Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson has been looking for a way to add some scoring punch to one of the league's weakest offenses, but he's reluctant to commit too much money and too many years to a high-end free agent such as Mitch Marner or Nikolaj Ehlers, neither of whose ages line up with their very young core. At 30 years old, Burakovsky doesn't, either.
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However, with just two years left on his contract — at a $5.5-million cap hit — Burakovsky can be a nice stopgap while the rest of Chicago's young forwards work their way into the NHL lineup. He found himself in a fourth-line role with the Kraken by the end of the season, but he's 6-foot-3, is a strong skater and has shown some top-six talent in the past.
Seattle not having to pay *anything* to get a team to take Andre Burakovsky's deal is incredible work. pic.twitter.com/NdjW5c4IcO
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) June 21, 2025
Burakovsky had just 10 goals and 27 assists in 79 games for the Kraken this past season after his 2023-24 season was cut short by a groin injury. He never lived up to the five-year, $27.5 million contract he signed with Seattle after helping the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 2022.
In his three seasons in Colorado, he had 20, 19 and 22 goals after modest but consistent production for five seasons with the Washington Capitals. But he was in danger of getting squeezed out of the Kraken lineup and was an obvious trade candidate.
Veleno, a fourth-line center acquired by Chicago from Detroit in the Petr Mrázek trade at the deadline, was a possible buyout candidate, and still could be, if this proves to be little more than a cap dump for the Kraken. Veleno has one year left on his deal at a $2.275-million cap hit.
The Blackhawks' strong closing kick with a team loaded with rookies and players younger than 23 years old has lessened the urgency Davidson feels to turbocharge the team's long rebuilding plan. Rather than go big-game hunting in unrestricted free agency, trades like this one — modest additions who can play up and down the lineup but don't require long-term commitments that'll block younger players' paths to the NHL — are about all that Blackhawks fans should expect this summer.