Confirmed with Link: Burakovsky signs 1 x 3.25M

[Avsboy]

Was Bura the guy who tried to deke out a Hawks player through the legs in the defensive zone?

 

[AegonLeConqueror]

Was Bura the guy who tried to deke out a Hawks player through the legs in the defensive zone?

Yup. Lost it and had to hustle his ass back. Luckily he blocked the shot

 

[The Abusement Park]

You'd be inconsistent too if your center was JT Compher. The dude was lights out with MacKinnon. So was Donskoi. Even Calvert played great with Mack.

I get Bednar putting the big line together but something isn't working.

It's time to split them up and go back to what was working.

Burakovsky- Mack- Donskoi
Landeskog- Kadri- Rantanen
Calvert- JTC- Nichushkin
Nieto- Bellmare- Jost

He was also inconsistent with Mack but

 

[cgf]

He was also inconsistent with Mack but

You hush. All Bura needs to be effective is to staple him next to the 2nd best player in the NHL.

 

[95snipes]

He also played with Lars Eller and Brett Connolly in Washington and was a horrible fit with those two. Eller is an upgraded John Mitchell. Poor hockey sense and terrible puck distributor, even if he's a decent player. Connolly skates like he's stuck in quicksand.

His issues are well documented, but I still believe he's just scratching the surface of what he can do. His upside has always been a 30g/30a top line winger and he's starting to show it this year.

 

[The Abusement Park]

He also played with Lars Eller and Brett Connolly in Washington and was a horrible fit with those two. Eller is an upgraded John Mitchell. Poor hockey sense and terrible puck distributor, even if he's a decent player. Connolly skates like he's stuck in quicksand.

His issues are well documented, but I still believe he's just scratching the surface of what he can do. His upside has always been a 30g/30a top line winger and he's starting to show it this year.

He also played significant time with Kuzy, Backstrom, Ovi and showed he couldn’t produce consistently enough to warrant top 6 time.

 

[95snipes]

He also played significant time with Kuzy, Backstrom, Ovi and showed he couldn’t produce consistently enough to warrant top 6 time.

That's not really true though.

14-15

D+2 season and rookie year. Certainly wasn't getting top minutes and not a bad season all things considered.

15-16

Caps top 6 was set in stone:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Williams

16-17

Caps top 6 was set in stone:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Williams

17-18

This could be the season where you can point fingers and say he didn't capture his opportunity. Got injured in October and didn't come back to a top 6 role. Never found his game. This would've been the season for him to breakout if it was going to work in Washington.

18-19

Vrana/Wilson took off after the playoffs and never looked back, whereas Burakovsky was lost in the shuffle (rightfully so based on their play, but still).

Caps top six was for the most part:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie

 

[cgf]

Does anyone have a link to the article -- I wanna say from this summer, but it may have been an older article that was just re-circulating when we nabbed Bura -- which used Bura's most common linemates and production over (I think it was) 15-game intervals; to examine the link between Bura's inconsistency & the quality of his linemates? That made a pretty compelling case for his linemates having surprisingly little impact on Bura's consistency.

...nevermind the shambolic quality of his work against the puck; which makes having to persevere through his cold-streaks so difficult on a coach...

I'm assuming that it was The Athletic, but that might just be because I thought it was genuinely a good article & a lot of hockey writers are terrible analysts.

 

[Balthazar]

His shot isn't good enough to be the only thing that keeps him in the NHL. As of right now he's like a poor man's Patrik Laine.

He needs to take the Nuke route and reinvent his game to be able to bring something to the table when he isn't scoring. Either by becoming very good defensively or a physical player on the forecheck (don't see this one happening even though it would be far easier for him to do that considering his size).

 

[The Abusement Park]

That's not really true though.

14-15

D+2 season and rookie year. Certainly wasn't getting top minutes and not a bad season all things considered.

15-16

Caps top 6 was set in stone:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Williams

16-17

Caps top 6 was set in stone:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Williams

17-18

This could be the season where you can point fingers and say he didn't capture his opportunity. Got injured in October and didn't come back to a top 6 role. Never found his game. This would've been the season for him to breakout if it was going to work in Washington.

18-19

Vrana/Wilson took off after the playoffs and never looked back, whereas Burakovsky was lost in the shuffle (rightfully so based on their play, but still).

Caps top six was for the most part:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie

I’ve watched enough caps games over the last 7 years to know that he was given plenty of chances in the top 6. You can go ask Caps fans and they will tell you the same thing, he didn’t give the coach go give him any reason to keep him in the top 6 long term.

 

[CobraAcesS]

His shot isn't good enough to be the only thing that keeps him in the NHL. As of right now he's like a poor man's Patrik Laine.

He needs to take the Nuke route and reinvent his game to be able to bring something to the table when he isn't scoring. Either by becoming very good defensively or a physical player on the forecheck (don't see this one happening even though it would be far easier for him to do that considering his size).

He isn't even using that shot since coming back. The dude should not be carrying the puck. One or two less stick handles would do wonders.

The puck needs to be on and off his stick, but he does not seem to have confidence in his pass right now either.

I'd say his linemates need to do a better job of getting open too, but he also needs to stop looking to thread the needle.

That line worked when Bura and Kadri were shooting, and Don was going to the net. Don is still going to the net, but alas..

 

[95snipes]

I’ve watched enough caps games over the last 7 years to know that he was given plenty of chances in the top 6. You can go ask Caps fans and they will tell you the same thing, he didn’t give the coach go give him any reason to keep him in the top 6 long term.

Man, I live in D.C. I don't need to ask Caps fans anything. They thought their team was gonna take steps back when they lost Johansson and Williams (LOL). I go to 10+ Caps games a year. I watch probably 50-75% of their regular season games and all of their playoff games.

I follow all their top prospects closely (ours too). I go to Caps development camp every year for the past 10 years. I've seen these guys as prospects. I've watched them develop as NHL players. Kuznetsov was the most talented prospect I've seen in their system. The dude is a pure wizard. Burakovsky is clearly second though.

He hasn't developed as expected, but the talent is clearly there. I was through the roof when he was traded to us, since he'd fit our system and play with other talented players. He's been up and down with us (recently bad), but I still believe he's a 30 goal scorer if we can focus on the positives and help develop the negatives in his game.

 

[shadow1]

You’d think be reading this thread he’s playing terribly, but he’s not. The same deficiencies are there when he’s scoring or when he’s not, and he was never going to score 70+ points this season.

He’s definitely cold right now but he scored three games ago.

 

[Foppa2118]

Bura's definitely been letting some bad habits creep into his game for a little while now, but he would find a way to score in those games as well. The last six games though he only has one point, a goal.

Bednar's constant line shuffling has hurt him to IMO. He was starting to develop really good chemistry with Naz and Donskoi, but then Bednar started shuffling things up for no reason. That line didn't seem to have any chemistry last game, but then again both Naz and Bura played pretty lackadaisical games.

The overhanding of the puck and passive puck battles have been an issue lately though. Hopefully Bednar can get him to clean them up along with the turnovers and the hesitancy in shooting, because it feels like he may be about to enter a prolonged slump here if he doesn't.

 

[S E P H]

Bura's definitely been letting some bad habits creep into his game for a little while now

Letting in?

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I’m not sure why the Burakovsky expectations have become so high.

He was brought in to be a top-9 player and he’s filling that role, just fine.

I think if we’re expecting him to become a top line player, or even a high-end top six forward, we’ll be left disappointed.

 

[super6646]

I'm so f***ing jealous of this team right now ffs. Talent dripping off the pan like it is nothing.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I’m not sure why the Burakovsky expectations have become so high.

He was brought in to be a top-9 player and he’s filling that role, just fine.

I think if we’re expecting him to become a top line player, or even a high-end top six forward, we’ll be left disappointed.

Well he was brought in to be a top 6 player. He was brought in with the thought that more ice time would lead to more points.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Well he was brought in to be a top 6 player. He was brought in with the thought that more ice time would lead to more points.

Which it has

 

[Hasbro]

20 and 50 still sounds like the threshold to me.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Which it has

So far yes. It doesn't change the fact that he's still close to being useless if he doesn't score. But him hitting 50 pts would be great.

 

[Foppa2118]

Letting in?

Fair point. He's always had bad habits, but they've been on display on way more shifts recently then they were earlier in the season.

Hopefully he finds that hunger again, because it looks like he may have gotten a bit comfortable with his stats so far. I think Bednar knows how to coach guys like Bura better than most, so maybe he helps him renew his focus.

 

[Balthazar]

I don't care about his production, he's even worse than advertised.

 

[Pokecheque]

Eh, I'm starting to sour on the guy. For the 2-3 games where he rifles a highlight-reel goal, there are long stretches where he's about the dumbest guy on the ice. He completely ruined the Avs chances in OT when, after Graves made a good play to free up the puck, dipsy-doodled around and gave it right back with an idiotic drop pass that MacKinnon wasn't ready for. That eventually led to the penalty put the Avs on the PK for the remainder of OT.

That's been pretty much par for the course since he's returned from injury. I don't mind the venture, but they're going to have to find someone more worthwhile to be the team's 2nd line scoring winger.

It's a shame, because the physical tools he's got are just plain ridiculous. He's the perfect player in that regard--size, speed, hands, and an almost Sakic-level wrist shot. But a rather suspect work ethic, especially on defense, and a complete and total absence of hockey sense make him a perpetual reclamation project. When he's not scoring, he's really not that useful, and when he's in stretches like this where he's making inexplicably bad decisions with the puck, he's dragging down whatever line he happens to be on.

 

[Balthazar]

Eh, I'm starting to sour on the guy. For the 2-3 games where he rifles a highlight-reel goal, there are long stretches where he's about the dumbest guy on the ice. He completely ruined the Avs chances in OT when, after Graves made a good play to free up the puck, dipsy-doodled around and gave it right back with an idiotic drop pass that MacKinnon wasn't ready for. That eventually led to the penalty put the Avs on the PK for the remainder of OT.

I couldn't believe that play and I'm still not over it. I was watching without sound and didn't know who just did that. I was screaming at my TV and had to log on HF to ask people who the f*** it was.

After all, someone just nonchalantly gave away the puck possession that the Avs had been working to get for 2 whole shifts. That's the dumbest play by an Av player I've seen so far this year. Dumber than any play made by Jost, Z, G, Cole or Graves.