Former 1st round pick on the trading block after 3 healthy scratches.

Potential trade in the works.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Former 1st round pick on the trading block after 3 healthy scratches.
Kostas Lymperopoulos/CSM/Zuma

It sounds like a former 1st round pick may end up as a surprising, yet solid, potential trade candidate.

 A Saturday during Hockey Night in Canada's weekly "Headlines" segment the Sportsnet insiders gathered around their table and discussed the latest goings on in the National Hockey League. One topic broached by Sportsnet's NHL insider Chris Johnston was the possibly of a trade involving 23 year old Washington Capitals winger Andre Burakovsky.

The former Washington Capitals 1st round pick (23rd overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft appears to have fallen out of a favor with Capitals head coach Todd Reirden and as a result has seen his ice time drop and has even spent significant time in the press box as a result of those issues. This was something that Johnston himself touched on when discussing the sudden rumors floating around Burakobsky.

"Another name that has been out there is Andre Burakovsky," said Johnston. "The talented Washington Capitals winger has fallen a little bit out of favor, has had some trouble with ice time, tonight he's sitting out his third straight game as a healthy scratch. His name has been out there on the trade market, on the rumor mill, and I think that one team that has inquired about him are the Vancouver Canucks."

Now no doubt teams from the outside looking in have noticed that Burakovsky has been sidelined by the Capitals in spite of being healthy enough to play and that likely has resulted in some of the interest that is being reportedly shown by teams like the Vancouver Canucks. It sounds like this one may not be an easy deal to get done however, at least not from the perspective of team's hoping to contend in the playoffs this season, because the Capitals themselves are looking to repeat. 

According to Johnston the Capitals would be looking for a player that can help them this season in any trade involving Burakovsky, a player the Capitals believe can continue to produce even with his limited minutes. So it sounds like this will either need to be a lateral type of trade or one that involves a team dealing from a position of strength to plug a hole elsewhere in their line up.

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