Andre Burakovsky is on the move again, this time to the team he father once played for.
Chicago traded Burakovsky to Ottawa on Friday for a 2027 sixth-round pick. The Blackhawks clear his $5.5 million salary cap hit off the books for next season, while the Senators get a 31-year-old winger who has twice won the Stanley Cup.
General manager Steve Staios said the Senators were happy to add a player of Burakovsky's pedigree because he “adds skill and playmaking
ability to our forward group.” Dad Robert Burakovsky played 23 games with the club during its second NHL season in 1993-94, and Andre is joining his fifth organization after winning the Cup with Washington and Colorado and spending time in Seattle.
Staios was busy in the hours before adding Burakovsky, acquiring the rights to goaltender Samuel Ersson and re-signing another pending restricted free agent, defenseman Jordan Spence. Ottawa sent a 2027 fifth-rounder to rival Toronto for Ersson, whom the Maple Leafs got along with Emil Andrae in a cap space-clearing trade with Philadelphia for Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit.
Spence, 25, signed a four-year, $20 million contract. He was a big part of the team enduring injuries at the position and still making the playoffs, scoring a career-high seven goals and finishing with 31 points while skating an average of nearly 19 minutes over 73 games.
“Jordan was an excellent addition to our hockey club and proved to be a valuable asset on our blue line and stepped up when it counted last season,” Staios said. “We’re excited to have him as part of our core group.”
In other moves, the New York Rangers made their first move of a critical offseason Friday, trading forward Brett Berard to Montreal for defenseman William Trudeau.
Berard, who turns 24 in September, was once considered part of the Rangers' future core but instead gets a change of scenery with the Canadiens. Trudeau is roughly a month younger but has been in the minors and has not yet made his NHL debut, whereas Berard has played in 48 games with the Rangers and registered 10 points.
New York general manager Chris Drury is expected to make much bigger deals. Center Vincent Trocheck has been involved in trade talks going back to before the deadline in March.
Buffalo got defenseman Olen Zellweger, who also needs a new contract, from Anaheim for the 45th pick and forward prospect Anton Wahlberg. Zellweger, who turns 23 in September, replenishes depth for the Sabres after they traded Bowen Byram to Chicago earlier in the week.
The Islanders re-signed defenseman Tony DeAngelo to a two-year contract worth $9 million. He will count $4.5 million against the salary cap through the 2027-28 season.
DeAngelo, 30, is returning to the Islanders for a second full season after joining them upon returning to the NHL from a stint in the Russia-based KHL in January 2025.
Out West, Colorado re-signed defensemen Brent Burns and Brett Kulak, fresh off winning the Presidents' Trophy and losing in the conference final to Vegas.
Burns, 41 signed for next season, his 23rd in the league, at the veteran minimum of $850,000 and can make up to $3 million in incentives, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because financial terms were not disclosed.
Burns has skated in 1,007 consecutive regular-season games and is 58 away from passing Phil Kessel for the longest ironman streak in NHL history.
Kulak got a five-year contract from the Avalanche worth a reported $22.5 million. President of hockey operations and franchise great Joe Sakic is retooling the roster after reclaiming GM duties when Chris MacFarland left for Nashville.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
