Kraken Trades
The groin. That’s one of the things I’ll remember about Andre Burakovsky in Seattle. Coming out of the combo NHL All-Star break slash bye week, Burakovsky blew his groin against the New York Islanders, :21-seconds into the club’s return from holiday on February 7th, 2023.
I reckon he forgot to stretch out sufficiently coming off the beach in Mexico.
Aside from that, he held on to pucks too long. Tooooooo long.
Now to be fair, Burky did produce for the Kraken in that first season with Seattle prior to the injury. A not-too-shabby 39 points in 49 games. Unfortunately the injury ended his season and kept him out of the playoffs during the club’s 2nd-round run.
The Cinderella team was missing a top-6 forward.
The next season, Burky hurt himself again and played just 49 regular season games for the 2nd straight year. That was under head coach Dave Hakstol. Last year, under one-and-done bench boss Dan Bylsma, it became a case of diminishing returns for a winger being overpaid at $5.5-million per season.
Some players were meant to be complimentary, others headliners. Yes, Burky won two Stanley Cups, in 2018 when he played 4th-line minutes in 13 playoff games for the Washington Capitals, and in 2022 when he had somewhat added responsibilities in playing 12 postseason games with the Colorado Avalanche.
Over the regular season long haul in Seattle, he didn’t seem quite as interested.
The 30-year-old Burakovsky was a strong candidate to be Seattle’s first ever buy-out this summer. Instead, brand new general manager Jason Botterill wiggled out of that possibility and saved the club money. No salary was retained in Friday’s deal that brought center Joe Veleno to Seattle straight up for Burky.
$2.275-million in for one season, $5.5-million for two seasons out the door. Well done. Veleno will be a restricted free agent at the end of next season, so Seattle will retain his rights.
The Kraken also gained five years. Veleno, 25, was Detroit’s 30th-overall pick in the 1st-round of the 2018 NHL Draft. That was coming off a stellar major junior career with the Saint John (New Brunswick) Sea Dogs of the Quebec League, one that saw him and his mates win a QMJHL title in 2017.
Veleno wasn’t a prolific scorer as a teenager. He is what he is, and will temporarily slide into the 4th center position on the depth chart, subject to competition from last year’s Kraken 1st-round pick Berkly Catton and potentially others.
As we pointed out in that Catton story earlier this weekend, Seattle needs as much competition as possible up the middle and the more candidates the merrier. They’re still looking for a number-one center, although for the moment, with the market lean, it’s starting to look like center-by-committee, and/or, win with depth.
Veleno has only played for rebuilding clubs, a couple of them. The Red Wings were still atrocious when he arrived, and the Blackhawks have been a slopfest in recent times. It’s a legitimate fresh start for the Montreal native, with a Seattle club that locals would like to believe is a bit closer to building a playoff-consistent roster.
His career high of 12 goals and 28 points came with the Red Wings in 2023-’24.
Veleno’s acquisition is another maneuver for a Kraken management team that will continue to stay busy over the next two weeks in particular.
