New Jersey Devils Should Trade For Andre Burakovsky This Summer
This summer will likely be a busy one for Ray Shero and company. After standing pat last offseason, the team has clearly underperformed. Not to say he’s on the hot seat, but Shero will almost certainly make a few splashes for the New Jersey Devils.
Shero has been a master at acquiring top-six players from teams in cap trouble in exchange for draft picks. We saw it in the Kyle Palmieri trade. We saw it in the Marcus Johansson deal. This summer, I believe Ray should go back to Washington and get Andre Burakovsky.
The 24-year-old Swede is due for a contract extension this summer. The problem, however is that the Capitals have roughly $1 million in cap space, with guys like Jakub Vrana and Christian Djoos also in need of pay raises. With no major contracts coming off the books this offseason, Washington will almost certainly need to make some moves in order to extend these players.
Of the three aforementioned players, Burakovsky is the most likely candidate to be on the move. A 1st-round pick in 2013, he has failed to have a 20 goal season in the NHL to this point. He has bounced around lines and really hasn’t found his place in the nation’s capital.
If this sounds eerily familiar to Devils fans, it should. The similarities between Burakovsky and Kyle Palmieri are striking. Both were late 1st-round picks, played for perennial playoff contenders, and underperformed (failed to reach 20 goals or 40 points in a season).
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As we saw with Palmieri, a change of scenery can do wonders for a player. Kyle has reached 20 goals and 40 points in each of his first 4 years with the Devils, and had 25 goal, 50 point campaigns in 3 of 4 seasons. The same might be the case with Burakovsky.
Even if the Capitals move him, they will still struggle to pay the rest of their RFAs. This means that New Jersey can take back some salary from Washington. Adding a guy like Lars Eller (making $3.5 million for the next 4 years) would definitely be a welcome addition in a potential trade. The 29-year-old Dane can fit seamlessly into the Devils’ top nine.
He has also proven to be a big playoff performer if and when New Jersey returns to the postseason. Last season on his way to winning a Stanley Cup, Eller scored 7 goals and tallied 18 points in 24 playoff games, including the Stanley Cup winning goal. The Devils can more than afford to pay him for the next 4 years.
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This has all the makings of a classic Ray Shero trade. So what would it cost? Likely around the same as the Johansson and Palmieri trades. The Devils have SIX picks in the second and third rounds this year, and I would be shocked if they actually use all of them. Trading for Andre Burakovsky would absolutely be worth this price.