Colorado Avalanche: Andre Burakovsky 2018-2019 Season in Review

Andre Burakovsky did not play for the Colorado Avalanche last season. However, here’s his season in review for the Capitals.

The Colorado Avalanche traded for winger Andre Burakovsky over the offseason. They sent over prospect Scott Kosmachuk, a 2020 second-round pick and a 2020 third-round pick. They proceeded to sign him to a one-year show-me contact worth $3.25 million.

Now, the Washington Capitals are my Eastern Conference team. However, my goal is to watch Avs games above all others, so I didn’t get in a ton of Caps games. Therefore, I wasn’t watching Washington games with an eye toward evaluating their under-utilized winger.

So, let’s look at some stats and video to get a feel for how Burakovsky’s 2018-19 season went.

The Swedish winger played 76 regular season and seven playoff games with the Washington Capitals last season. In the regular season, he recorded 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points. In the playoffs, he recorded 1 goal and 1 assist.

Burakovsky saw bottom-six ice time last season with the Capitals. His average was 11:08, which is bottom-six for Colorado, too. It was a career low for him.

In that time, Burakovsky recorded 100 shots on goal and 178 total shots attempted. His shooting percentage was 12%. He took 20 faceoffs, winning just seven for a 35 percentage. But he is a winger.

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Burakovsky’s takeaway to giveaway is almost neutral — 28:29. He also recorded 35 hits and 29 blocks. For the fancy stats group, know that his CorsiFor was 48.5% with a Relative Corsi of -0.4.

In the playoffs, Burakovsky’s average ice time decreased slightly to 10:54. Nonetheless, he got five shots on goal in seven games an attempted a total of 13. His shooting percentage in the playoffs was 20%.

Andre Burakovsky scored just one goal in the seven-game playoffs for the Washington Capitals. However, it was a beauty.

With the game tied early in the first, Burakvosky stole the puck from Carolina defenseman Brett Pesce. He deked in the slot and scored a top-shelf snipe:

That’s both a pretty and a gritty goal at the same time. I love the talent on display. But also the sheer size to be able to absorb a big hit from the opponent Carolina Hurricanes.

Since I didn’t mention in this particular post, the Swedish winger is listed at 6-foot-3, 201 pounds.

Andre Burakosky is scouted as a player with “NHL-sized frame,” “great speed,” and “goal-scoring instincts.” The general consensus is that he’s a talented player who just didn’t get enough of a chance in a stacked Washington Capitals team.

Enter the Colorado Avalanche, who love a good reclamation project.

Next. Joonas Donskoi Season in Review. dark

Well, the cost to acquire Andre Burakovsky was a little steep. However, the Colorado Avalanche are built for players of Burakovsky’s ilk. Hopefully this particular reclamation project pans out.

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