Blackhawks need to be logical and buy out Andre Burakovsky this summer

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Has Andre Burakovsky played his final game for the Blackhawks?

That feels like a distinct possibility after coach Jeff Blashill scratched the embattled veteran for the first time this season Monday against the Sharks — the Hawks' fifth-to-last game.

Ever since the Hawks took on Andrew Mangiapane's contract as part of the Jason Dickinson trade, it has felt like one of the Hawks' three veteran forwards with one contract year remaining — Burakovsky, Mangiapane and Teuvo Teravainen — would become an odd man out this summer.

That's because of numbers. Seven young forwards are locks for the 2026-27 roster: Connor Bedard, Frank Nazar, Ryan Greene, Oliver Moore, Nick Lardis, Anton Frondell and Roman Kantserov. Two veteran forwards — Tyler Bertuzzi and Ryan Donato — have multiple contract years left.

That's nine guys, and Landon Slaggert likely makes 10. The Hawks are trying hard to re-sign pending free agent Ilya Mikheyev, too.

With Mikheyev, Burakovsky, Mangiapane and Teravainen, the Hawks would be at 14 forwards and out of roster spots for everyone — even without mentioning prospects Sacha Boisvert, AJ Spellacy and Marek Vanacker, who could compete for jobs.

A trade could shake things up, particularly if general manager Kyle Davidson swung a blockbuster for a top-six forward like Matthew Knies, Robert Thomas or Jason Roberton. Nonetheless, it feels like the Hawks need to buy or move out one guy.

An upper-body injury has limited Mangiapane's tryout with the Hawks; his return is what pushed Burakovsky out Monday. But at least before that, it sounded like they envisioned a role for Mangiapane as a scrappy fourth-liner who plays a direct north-south game.

Teravainen, meanwhile, has been less effective offensively this season (34 points in 70 games entering Monday) than last season (58 in 82), and his defensive metrics have also declined. He has admitted to a lack of confidence, and he would have some trade value if shopped.

But Teravainen is unquestionably the most talented and versatile forward of the three, and that — combined with his track record in Chicago — makes him the least likely to move.

In all respects, the most logical decision is to dump Burakovsky, who has become this year's version of TJ Brodie (a buyout last summer).

The only question is whether Blashill and Davidson, who maintained inordinate amounts of belief in Burakovsky for inordinately long, can bring themselves to do it.

The first half of Burakovsky's season actually went smoothly. His puck-carrying ability and give-and-go passing worked well with Bedard in the fall. As of Jan. 8, the Kraken castoff was trending toward a bounce-back season with 29 points in 38 games.

His second half, however, has been disastrous to a remarkable degree. Since Jan. 8, he has just three points in 33 games despite spending much of that time alongside Bedard.

He has been a turnover machine, too, leading to the Hawks getting outscored 25-11 (and outshot by 88) during his five-on-five ice time.

Blashill finally demoted Burakovsky to the third line March 24 and to the fourth line last Thursday, which led to consecutive appearances receiving less than than 10 minutes of ice time.

"Unfortunately, he’s trying hard, he cares [and] he wants to be a good player, [but] it’s just not going [well]," Blashill said last Thursday. "Sometimes my job as a coach is to get them out of those situations, almost like when you pull a pitcher."

It's difficult to see what value Burakovsky could bring in a bottom-six role next season, even if he did sort himself out, since he's no grinder or defensive specialist. And it would be insane to give him another opportunity with Bedard.

Buying out his contract and its $5.5 million salary-cap hit would be relatively painless, incurring a $3 million cap charge in 2026-27 and a $1.25 million charge in 2027-28.