From Burakovsky to 'Finish'

Going into the off-season, the Kraken knew the need to add offensive power to the lineup. It's been a good week on that front. After drafting Shane Wright with the fourth overall pick, Seattle signed the talented center to his first NHL contract.
Just as the ink was drying on that agreement, the club announced two-time Stanley Cup winner, Andre Burakovsky, was joining the organization as a free agent signee.
"This is a guy that's in the right age group at 27," said Kraken general manager Ron Francis Wednesday. "He's got good speed, he's got playmaking abilities, he's got a heck of a shot. We think getting here and having a little more opportunity hopefully helps him reach the potential he wants to get to."

That all sounds good, but specifically what can we expect from the Austria-born Swedish winger?
Let's dig in.
The upcoming season will mark Burakovsky's ninth in the NHL. In 5-on-5 according to Evolving-Hockey.com, he's never been below a point per 60 minutes of play in his career and the last three seasons have seen that elevate to above two points per 60. That last fact
puts him in rare company as noted by The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn
. Only seven other players in the NHL can support a similar stat line.
His offensive production comes in points off his own stick (definitely the strong suit), and by setting up his teammates (he had the third most primary shot assists of any Avalanche forward per analyst Corey Sznajder). The winger can tilt the ice his team's way while providing serviceable defensive play, to rate out as a top tier player using Luszczyszyn's Game Score Value Added (GSVA) model as a result.

Viz courtesy of Dom Luszczyszyn and Shayna Goldman
Per the data, we know offense is the forward's calling card. What does that look like?
Burakovsky can play either side of the ice and is strong at creating chances off the rush. According to All Three Zones' Corey Sznajder, Burakovsky was top three among a talented Avalanche forwards corps in terms of rush offense.
Not only can he create in the offensive zone proper, he has the ability to get the puck into the attack zone with strong transitional play. Ranking above average in moving the puck through the neutral zone with control both out of the defensive zone and into the opposing zone.

Burakovsky might not be one to fight for loose pucks in his team's zone, but that can be OK especially if he works to strengthen his individual possession even more. After all, the more he has the puck or gets it away from opponents, it's only going to lead to more offensive opportunity for him and teammates.
That brings us to what makes Burakovsky really special: his ability to finish.

Wow. Obviously he receives a strong pass here right to the tape, but there's no hesitation in Burakovsky's release. Again, to wire that shot home from an area a little farther out than the highest danger areas speaks to the ability to finish. That ability to shoot from the outside is not the usual for all NHL players.
If we look at the 27-year-old through the lens of HockeyViz.com's Micah Blake McCurdy, we see Burakovsky can impact offense from pretty much anywhere in the zone. McCurdy's finishing model puts the now-Kraken forward at the top end of the entire league at plus-8 percent above league average. He's right behind players like Auston Matthews (last year's NHL goal scoring leader) who clock in at plus 11-percent. It all adds for many data points for optimism.

"What's intriguing to note is that while Burakovsky can shoot (and finish!) from so many areas on the ice, there's still opportunity waiting in even more dangerous areas of the ice for him. It's possible the increased ice time in Kraken lineup could create upgrade and round out in his game.
Overall, in Burakovsky, the Kraken are getting a true offensive talent still in the midst of his prime on a cap hit that comes in under market value according to public models.
Unleashing him in a higher profile role than he may have been afforded in previous homes such as Colorado and Washington has the potential to see his contributions grow even more.