Two-time Stanley Cup champion Andre Burakovsky (28) spent the 2025-26 NHL season with the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring 11 goals and 22 assists. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia

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The changes were fast and furious for the Ottawa Senators on Friday.

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Unfortunately, if you were expecting a blockbuster, it was lunch bag let down on that front.

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Hours before the National Hockey League draft began with Round 1 at the Keybank Center in Buffalo, the Senators acquired winger Andre Burakovsky from the Chicago Blackhawks for a sixth-round pick in 2028.

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That move came only hours after the Senators traded for backup goaltender Samuel Ersson from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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The move to get Burakovsky was the fourth deal that Steve Staios, the Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager, had made this week, including sending captain Brady Tkachuk packing to the Florida Panthers on Sunday and acquiring winger William Eklund from the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

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Burakovsky, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, is a left-winger who can play up and down the lineup.

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“Andre adds skill and playmaking ability to our forward group,” Staios said. “We are happy to add the pedigree of a two-time Stanley Cup champion.”

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Burakovsky, 31, won the Cup with the Washington Capitals in 2018 and with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.

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He spent the 2025-26 campaign with the Blackhawks, scoring 11 goals and adding 22 assists for 33 points in 75 games.

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This move by Staios caught a lot of people off guard around the league.

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The Senators were linked to Mason McTavish as the Anaheim Ducks and the belief in the nation’s capital is the club still needs a top-six forward to compete for a Stanley Cup, especially after Tkachuk was traded.

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Burakovsky has a cap hit of $5.5 million US, but will make $3.75 million in real cash. The talk out of Chicago is that the Hawks were prepared to buy out the final year of his deal because he hasn’t lived up to expectations.

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Instead, the Hawks were able to ship him off to the Senators.

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“A high-end talent,” a league executive said of Burakovsky.

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That was about the best thing any of several executives contacted by the  Citizen said after the deal. Teams have concerns about Burakovsky’s willingness to compete, but maybe a fresh start will help him get his game back together.

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“He’s not that good a player,” another said.

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He has 164 goals, 256 assists, and 420 points in 771 NHL games.

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If he Burakovsky can find his scoring touch in Ottawa that would be helpful.

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Burakovsky does have a connection to the Senators.

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His father, Robert Burakovsky, played one season in the Ottawa organization during the 1992-93 campaign. He was the first Swedish to play to suit up for the team in the history of the franchise.

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Robert also spent time with the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Charlottetown. Burakovsky led the AHL club with 67 points and added two goals and three assists in 23 games in the NHL.

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