Selected by Washington in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft, Burakovsky has tallied 145 points (62g/83a) in 328 career regular-season NHL games for the Capitals. He has also dressed in 56 career playoff games, totaling 18 points (9g/9a).
"We are excited to be adding a big, fast, skilled winger like Andre," said Avalanche Executive Vice President / General Manager Joe Sakic. "He already has a lot of NHL experience at a young age and is a Stanley Cup winner who has performed well in the playoffs. At just 24 he is entering the prime years of his career and we feel with an added role, he will be a great addition to our team."
Burakovsky split his first professional season in North America with the Capitals and Washington's American Hockey League affiliate, the Hershey Bears. The 6-foot-3, 201-pound left wing tallied 22 points (9g/13a) in 53 games for the Capitals during the regular season and added three points (2g/1a) in 11 postseason contests. For Hershey, he notched seven points (3g/4a) in 13 regular-season outings and recorded one point (1g/0a) in one playoff appearance.
Born in Klagenfurt, Austria, Burakovsky played one season for the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters in 2013-14 and finished the campaign ranked fourth on the team with 87 points, while his 41 goals and 46 assists each ranked third. He paced the Otters with 10 goals during the playoffs and finished the 2014 postseason with 13 points (10g/3a) in 14 outings.
Burakovsky spent three seasons with the Malmo Redhawks organization in Sweden, totaling 12 points (4g/8a) in 53 games in Allsvenskan, the second-highest professional league in the Swedish ice hockey system. He accumulated 49 points (20g/29a) in 55 career contests in SuperElit, Sweden's top junior league. He represented Sweden at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship, tallying seven points (3g/4a) to help his country capture the silver medal.
