Andre Burakovsky’s encouraging start in Ottawa has hit an early snag, and the Senators now expect the winger to miss their season opener in Toronto on Saturday.
Burakovsky has not skated since suffering an upper-body injury Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens, when he took a cross-check in the back near the boards. He was trying to reverse the puck when Arber Xhekaj checked him head first into the boards and then fell on him.
On Wednesday, head coach Travis Green made it clear the winger is unlikely to be ready.
“He still hasn't skated. Upper body. I don't expect him to play on the weekend,” Green said.
That puts Burakovsky alongside Artem Zub as players who won’t be available when the season begins. Green was more optimistic about Jake Sanderson, although Sanderson also did not skate on Wednesday.
The injury is a frustrating turn for Burakovsky, who had been one of the more noticeable players in camp and preseason. His size and skating jumped out, and he seemed to be tracking toward a role in Ottawa’s top six - exactly the kind of impact the Senators were hoping for when they acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks in June for a sixth-round draft pick.
When Burakovsky is right, he has shown he can deliver at that level.
His best NHL season came with the Colorado Avalanche in 2021-22, when he posted career highs of 22 goals and 61 points in 80 games before helping Colorado win the Stanley Cup. Before that, he had back-to-back productive seasons with 45 points in 58 games and 44 points in 53 games.
He also opened his first season in Seattle strongly, collecting 39 points in 49 games and leading the Kraken in scoring before a groin injury in February ended his year. Rehab setbacks followed, and he eventually needed surgery.
Injuries have followed him through much of his career. Early the next season, he needed surgery after an upper-body injury against the New York Rangers and was expected to miss six to eight weeks. Even earlier, in Washington, he lost significant time to injuries to both hands, including a fractured thumb that required surgery, and he later had another procedure after being hurt in the 2018 playoffs.
The last two seasons were healthier. Burakovsky played 79 games for Seattle in 2024-25 and 75 for Chicago last season, when he had 11 goals and 33 points.
Last November, he missed five games after taking a brutal hit to the head from Seattle’s Ryan Lindgren, but he still had 29 points in 38 games by Jan. 7.
The second half was a different story, though, as he managed only 4 points in his final 32 games despite remaining on the ice regularly with Connor Bedard.
Chicago kept him on the top line because its analytics suggested he was still generating chances, but production eventually outweighed the process, which helped explain why the Blackhawks were willing to move him for a sixth-rounder.
That’s why Burakovsky arrived in Ottawa with some real intrigue. He looked like he might be rediscovering that early-season form from last year. Instead, the injury bug found him again.
It is a rough break for both the player and the Senators. Burakovsky, 31, is in the final season of the five-year, $27.5-million deal he signed with Seattle in 2022, and he can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. With NHL salaries continuing to climb, a healthy, productive year could set him up for another major contract.
There’s still time for that kind of season to happen. But after such a promising camp, getting shut down before Ottawa even plays its first game is hardly the start anyone wanted.
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