Blackhawks acquire Andre Burakovsky for Joe Veleno in trade with Kraken

SPORTIVO
Article arrow_drop_down

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.

Advertisement

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.

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.

Advertisement

Why Seattle made this deal

The Kraken found an affordable way to make their bargain acquisition of Mason Marchment just about cap neutral thanks to this cap dump.

Burakovsky was once an oversized, slick scoring winger with a penchant for big goals during his time with Washington and Colorado. However, since arriving in Seattle, Burakovsky has struggled with injuries, and last season, when he finally managed to appear in more than 50 games for the first time in his Kraken tenure, he struggled outright.

With two years remaining on Burakovsky’s contract, this deal gets the Kraken out of a significant cap commitment for a struggling middle-six winger who was falling rapidly down their depth chart. They also save a fair bit of actual cash, just as the NHL offseason is about to grind into full gear.

That’s well worth doing for a Seattle team that should be aiming higher, and aggressively looking to do everything possible to give themselves a shot to add some needle-moving forwards this summer.

Remarkably, Seattle didn’t need to add any sweeteners to this trade, given Burakovsky’s durability concerns, diminishing form and the term and salary that remain on his contract.

Veleno, 25, is young enough to be bought out at a one-third rate over the next week. The Kraken could keep him and roll the dice on a depth player with some draft pedigree, but they could also easily add to the cap savings by exercising an ordinary course buyout on the final year of his deal before the first window closes on June 30.

In any event, the real value for Seattle here is in the cap space saved over a multi-year time horizon. And Chicago will hope that they’ve found this summer’s version of the Ilya Mikheyev trade, and can build Burakovsky back up into a useful contributor (or trade chip). — Thomas Drance, senior NHL writer

(Photo: Ben Ludeman / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

About the author

About the author call_made

SPORTIVO

More posts

trending_flat
NBA offseason, free agency live updates: Kevin Durant traded to Rockets, news, analysis and reaction

Since the season ended, Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia has promised an organizational makeover, one built around toughness and grit. This is the start. At the 2023 trade deadline, Phoenix had acquired Kevin Durant for a package that included Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four unprotected future first-round picks. While the Suns didn’t come close to matching what they gave up to acquire Durant, this might have been the best they could do under the circumstances.Jalen Green is a high-scoring guard who has improved over his four NBA years. He’s explosive, athletic and dependable. He’s played all 82 games the past two seasons, and this season averaged a team-best 21 points while shooting a career-best 35.4 percent on 8.1 attempts per game. Last October, Green signed a three-year rookie extension worth $106 million.The obvious issue: The trade gives Phoenix an […]

trending_flat
Fuel-Saving Maestro Scott Dixon Can’t Save Enough To Beat Alex Palou

Bob Pockrass FOX Motorsports Insider <!--> ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Scott Dixon knows he doesn’t have a shot at a seventh INDYCAR title this year. Scott Dixon prior to the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL Grand Prix at Road America  --> <!-->So going for race victory No. 59 is the strategy every week. Even if it means a roll of the dice.Putting Dixon in a position to save fuel to potentially win a race doesn’t always equate to a roll of the dice. But Sunday, at Road America, to try to go the final 18 laps on fuel was just a little bit too much at a 4.014-mile track where the fuel run was approximately 13 to 15 laps.Dixon had to pit with two laps remaining, relinquishing the lead to Alex Palou, who won for the sixth time in nine races […]

trending_flat
Fuel-Saving Maestro Scott Dixon Can’t Save Enough To Beat Alex Palou

Bob Pockrass FOX Motorsports Insider <!--> ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Scott Dixon knows he doesn’t have a shot at a seventh INDYCAR title this year. Scott Dixon prior to the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL Grand Prix at Road America  --> <!-->So going for race victory No. 59 is the strategy every week. Even if it means a roll of the dice.Putting Dixon in a position to save fuel to potentially win a race doesn’t always equate to a roll of the dice. But Sunday, at Road America, to try to go the final 18 laps on fuel was just a little bit too much at a 4.014-mile track where the fuel run was approximately 13 to 15 laps.Dixon had to pit with two laps remaining, relinquishing the lead to Alex Palou, who won for the sixth time in nine races […]

Hulk ‘diz não querer imaginar’ em possibilidade de deixar Atlético-MG

Atacante evitar falar sobre possibilidade de deixar o Galo (Foto: Pedro Souza / Atlético) Com contrato até o final de 2026, atacante descarta deixar Galo e se derrete pelo clube, citando ‘estar muito feliz’ em defender o time Hulk tem vínculo até 2026 com o Atlético-MG e não há qualquer sinal que indique que o jogador esteja deixando o clube ou de sondagens de outros clubes. E a possibilidade de saída neste ou em qualquer outro momento nem passa pela cabeça do atacante. PUBLICIDADE PUBLICIDADE ‘Não passa pela cabeça’ O jogador do Galo deu entrevista a Breno Galante e, quando mencionado sobre uma possível despedida do time mineiro, o jogador disse ‘nem pensar’ em imaginar uma possível despedida, se esta ocorrer. O atacante ressaltou o fato de gostar do ambiente do clube e como tem o respeito de todos do […]

trending_flat
Kevin Durant trade shows just how far Rockets have risen, Suns have fallen

In the spirit of Sam Presti turning the Rashard Lewis trade exception into Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, let's zoom out. This past Thursday was the four-year anniversary of Kevin Durant's toe-on-the-line 2 at Barclays Center. That shot, in Game 7 of the Brooklyn Nets' second-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, is the best -- or at least most literal -- example of the razor-thin margin between winning and losing in recent NBA history.Durant, then 32 years old, was widely considered the best player on the planet. He scored 48 points in 53 minutes in that game, four days after a 49-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist masterpiece.At the time, the Phoenix Suns were in the middle of an NBA Finals run, led by Chris Paul and Devin Booker and a strong, young supporting cast. The Houston Rockets, having traded James Harden to the […]

trending_flat
2025 Travelers Championship purse, prize money: Payouts for Keegan Bradley, players from $20 million pool

The final signature event of the PGA Tour season took the best players in the world TPC River Highlands for the annual stop in Connecticut for the 2025 Travelers Championship. The event stands among players' favorite weeks on the schedule as low scores are always on the menu at the Travelers given there are birdies abound at the course.That indeed came true once again this week as Keegan Bradley finished 15 under across his 72 holes to win the Travelers, claim the $3.6 million grand prize and rocket up the Ryder Cup standings to ninth on the American side. The United States captain may have given himself an interesting decision to make in about two months' time.Being the final signature event on the calendar, the Travelers stood as the last chance to bank big money and big points before the […]

Related

trending_flat
NBA offseason, free agency live updates: Kevin Durant traded to Rockets, news, analysis and reaction

Since the season ended, Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia has promised an organizational makeover, one built around toughness and grit. This is the start. At the 2023 trade deadline, Phoenix had acquired Kevin Durant for a package that included Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and four unprotected future first-round picks. While the Suns didn’t come close to matching what they gave up to acquire Durant, this might have been the best they could do under the circumstances.Jalen Green is a high-scoring guard who has improved over his four NBA years. He’s explosive, athletic and dependable. He’s played all 82 games the past two seasons, and this season averaged a team-best 21 points while shooting a career-best 35.4 percent on 8.1 attempts per game. Last October, Green signed a three-year rookie extension worth $106 million.The obvious issue: The trade gives Phoenix an […]

trending_flat
Fuel-Saving Maestro Scott Dixon Can’t Save Enough To Beat Alex Palou

Bob Pockrass FOX Motorsports Insider <!--> ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Scott Dixon knows he doesn’t have a shot at a seventh INDYCAR title this year. Scott Dixon prior to the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL Grand Prix at Road America  --> <!-->So going for race victory No. 59 is the strategy every week. Even if it means a roll of the dice.Putting Dixon in a position to save fuel to potentially win a race doesn’t always equate to a roll of the dice. But Sunday, at Road America, to try to go the final 18 laps on fuel was just a little bit too much at a 4.014-mile track where the fuel run was approximately 13 to 15 laps.Dixon had to pit with two laps remaining, relinquishing the lead to Alex Palou, who won for the sixth time in nine races […]

trending_flat
Fuel-Saving Maestro Scott Dixon Can’t Save Enough To Beat Alex Palou

Bob Pockrass FOX Motorsports Insider <!--> ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Scott Dixon knows he doesn’t have a shot at a seventh INDYCAR title this year. Scott Dixon prior to the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL Grand Prix at Road America  --> <!-->So going for race victory No. 59 is the strategy every week. Even if it means a roll of the dice.Putting Dixon in a position to save fuel to potentially win a race doesn’t always equate to a roll of the dice. But Sunday, at Road America, to try to go the final 18 laps on fuel was just a little bit too much at a 4.014-mile track where the fuel run was approximately 13 to 15 laps.Dixon had to pit with two laps remaining, relinquishing the lead to Alex Palou, who won for the sixth time in nine races […]

Hulk ‘diz não querer imaginar’ em possibilidade de deixar Atlético-MG

Atacante evitar falar sobre possibilidade de deixar o Galo (Foto: Pedro Souza / Atlético) Com contrato até o final de 2026, atacante descarta deixar Galo e se derrete pelo clube, citando ‘estar muito feliz’ em defender o time Hulk tem vínculo até 2026 com o Atlético-MG e não há qualquer sinal que indique que o jogador esteja deixando o clube ou de sondagens de outros clubes. E a possibilidade de saída neste ou em qualquer outro momento nem passa pela cabeça do atacante. PUBLICIDADE PUBLICIDADE ‘Não passa pela cabeça’ O jogador do Galo deu entrevista a Breno Galante e, quando mencionado sobre uma possível despedida do time mineiro, o jogador disse ‘nem pensar’ em imaginar uma possível despedida, se esta ocorrer. O atacante ressaltou o fato de gostar do ambiente do clube e como tem o respeito de todos do […]

trending_flat
Kevin Durant trade shows just how far Rockets have risen, Suns have fallen

In the spirit of Sam Presti turning the Rashard Lewis trade exception into Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, let's zoom out. This past Thursday was the four-year anniversary of Kevin Durant's toe-on-the-line 2 at Barclays Center. That shot, in Game 7 of the Brooklyn Nets' second-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, is the best -- or at least most literal -- example of the razor-thin margin between winning and losing in recent NBA history.Durant, then 32 years old, was widely considered the best player on the planet. He scored 48 points in 53 minutes in that game, four days after a 49-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist masterpiece.At the time, the Phoenix Suns were in the middle of an NBA Finals run, led by Chris Paul and Devin Booker and a strong, young supporting cast. The Houston Rockets, having traded James Harden to the […]

trending_flat
2025 Travelers Championship purse, prize money: Payouts for Keegan Bradley, players from $20 million pool

The final signature event of the PGA Tour season took the best players in the world TPC River Highlands for the annual stop in Connecticut for the 2025 Travelers Championship. The event stands among players' favorite weeks on the schedule as low scores are always on the menu at the Travelers given there are birdies abound at the course.That indeed came true once again this week as Keegan Bradley finished 15 under across his 72 holes to win the Travelers, claim the $3.6 million grand prize and rocket up the Ryder Cup standings to ninth on the American side. The United States captain may have given himself an interesting decision to make in about two months' time.Being the final signature event on the calendar, the Travelers stood as the last chance to bank big money and big points before the […]

Be the first to leave a comment

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sportivo bridges the gap between talent and opportunity.

About SPORTIVO

Sportivo Network is a dedicated social platform for sports enthusiasts, athletes, and scouts. Whether you’re an aspiring athlete looking for opportunities, a coach searching for talent, or simply a sports lover wanting to connect with like-minded people, Sportivo is your go-to network. With features like direct messaging, profile showcasing, and talent scouting, Sportivo bridges the gap between talent and opportunity. Here, you can share your achievements, interact with professionals, and open doors to the next level in your sports journey. Join Sportivo Network – because every great athlete deserves to be discovered!
Copyright © 2025 SPORTIVO News. and SPORTIVO Network. All rights reserved.

Login to enjoy full advantages

Please login or subscribe to continue.

Go Premium!

Enjoy the full advantage of the premium access.

Stop following

Unfollow Cancel

Cancel subscription

Are you sure you want to cancel your subscription? You will lose your Premium access and stored playlists.

Go back Confirm cancellation