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The players that the organization selects will be listed below, with links to their prospect profiles and all their vital stats.

2025 Blackhawks NHL Entry Draft

Chicago Blackhawks Draft Picks

Trades made leading to and during the draft:

Date	Outgoing Player/Pick	Opposite Team	Player/Pick Received
6/13/25	Victor Soderstrom		Ryan Mast and a 2025 7th round pick
6/21/25	Joe Veleno		Andre Burakovsky
7/1/25	2026 sixth-round pick		Sam Lafferty

Trade Analysis

• The Boston Bruins acquired Victor Soderstrom from the Chicago Blackhawks for Ryan Mast and a 2025 7th round pick

The Boston Bruins acquired Victor Soderstrom from the Chicago Blackhawks for Ryan Mast and a 2025 7th round pick

• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired forward Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for forward Joe Veleno

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken for Joseph Veleno

• The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2025 1st round pick (#29) from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2025 2nd round pick (#34), a 2025 2nd round pick (#62), a 2027 5th round pick

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired a 2025 1st round pick (#29) from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2025 2nd round pick (#34), a 2025 2nd round pick (#62), a 2027 5th round pick

The post Chicago Blackhawks 2025 Upper Deck NHL Entry Draft Tracker appeared first on The Rink.

The 30-year old, 6-foot-3, 203-pound Burkovsky was originally selected by Washington in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft and will make $5.5 million for the next two seasons. He had 37 points (10 goals, 27 assists) in 79 games with Seattle in 2024–25.

The native of Klagenfurt, Austria, has appeared in 696 career regular season NHL games, over 11 seasons with the Capitals, Colorado Avalanche and Kraken. Over his career, he has won the Stanley Cup twice with Washington (2018) and Colorado (2022) in eight trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In international play, Burakovsky has helped lead Sweden to silver medals at the 2012 World U18 Championship and the 2014 World Junior Championship.

The Chicago Blackhawks acquired Andre Burakovsky from the Seattle Kraken for Joseph Veleno

The post BREAKING: Blackhawks acquire Andre Burakovsky from Seattle appeared first on The Rink.

Many have contributed in this period, but the player that has really caught my eye recently has been Andre Burakovsky. He has impressed with the manner of his performances, but also with the timing, stepping up when Nathan MacKinnon was out of the lineup.

And Andre Burakovsky with his perfect shot. AVALANCHE GOAL. #GoAvsGo

— The Rink — Colorado Avalanche (@TheRinkColorado) May 14, 2021

As we go into the postseason, whoever plays Colorado will focus on the top line and try to shut it down. If they have success, which is, of course, not easy, the Avalanche will need secondary scoring to have success.

This is where Burakovsky is hopefully going to come through and shine.

A hot streak in May

During the month of May, a tussle for the West Division title has given Jared Bednar’s team something to play for in every game. In eight games during the month, Burakovsky has scored five goals and added seven assists for 12 points.

It is not just on the scoreboard where the 26-year-old has impressed; the underlying stats have been excellent, too. The chances were not as good on Thursday night, but on Wednesday against Los Angeles, Burakovsky was on the ice when the Avs created eight high-danger scoring chances for, and had just one against them.

In Vegas on Monday, when many players struggled in the game, the numbers for Burakovsky were still excellent. He was on the ice for seven high-danger chances, while the team gave up just one to Vegas when he was out there.

Stats of course are not everything, but in conjunction with how good the winger has looked to the eye, it gives a full picture of just how good he has been playing recently.

Ohhhhh Burky that's FILTHY#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/8uxkaC6QzA

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) May 14, 2021

The importance of secondary scoring in the playoffs

We have seen over the years that goals in the playoffs can come from the most unlikely sources. The top line will be expected to carry the load, but cannot be relied upon for everything, especially if MacKinnon is not fully healthy, which seems up in the air.

Players farther down the lineup will need to contribute and take the pressure off the big guns, and coming in hot, expect Burakovsky to be one of the main players in this area.

Two seasons with a 30-goal pace

This is the second season for Burakovsky with the Avalanche, and in both of them he has played 50-plus games. He played 58 last season, and scored 20 goals; he played 53 this season and ended with 19.

Both seasons put him on pace for a 30-goal season across a full 82-game season, an excellent return for a player on the second line.

Last season in the playoffs, Burakovsky played 15 games and registered seven goals and 10 assists for 17 total points. The Avs would love a similar pace from him this postseason.

The post Andre Burakovsky is hot heading into the postseason appeared first on The Rink.

After taking both games, the Avs not only moved to 5–3 on the season, but they scored 10 goals,  with numerous depth players playing their best hockey thus far. Secondary scoring has finally arrived in Denver.

Avs fire without the top line

Of those 10 goals, Mikko Rantanen scored one, while both Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog were kept off the scoresheet. Two goals came from defensemen, with the remaining seven all being scored by depth forwards—the players fans were hoping would step up soon.

Brandon Saad put just one point on the board in his first six games with the Avs, a disappointing start for someone expected to add a little more offense to the team. But he scored two goals against San Jose, and also had two assists, giving him a far more respectable five points over eight games.

Nazem Kadri is another player who has received a little bit of criticism for his start, with just two points from the opening six games. An assist in the first game against the Sharks helped Kadri to his best game of the season so far, but that was eclipsed in the second, with a three-point night (two goals, one assist). Kadri now has six points through eight outings.

Nazem Kadri (2-1—3) factored on all three unanswered goals and Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves on 21 shots as the @Avalanche outscored the Sharks by a 10-3 margin across their two straight meetings. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/QU6QshtBNQ

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 29, 2021

Despite missing time already this season, Andre Burakovsky now has six points in five games, with three goals and three assists. He bagged two assists in the first game, while adding a goal in the second, to continue his bright start to the season. Burakovsky has been one of a small number of shining lights away from the top line.

Other important notes included first points of the season for Valeri Nichushkin, bagging a goal and an assist in the 7–3 win on Tuesday. Tyson Jost and Kiefer Sherwood also notched assists—their first points of the season—in the first game.

Injuries necessitate more secondary scoring

The Avs are going to be without Matt Calvert and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare for quite some time it seems, and that is going to put more pressure on the second and third lines to deliver.

Kiefer Sherwood has stepped into a role on the fourth line in place of Calvert and performed well so far, certainly not making any mistakes. Someone will have to fill in for Bellemare and the favorite to do that is Logan O’Connor, who will add grit and penalty killing ability, but may not add much in terms of scoring.

It would be no surprise to see the fourth line move into a full shutdown role, especially on the road in Minnesota this weekend, so scoring will have to come from the top three lines if the Avs are to continue their winning run.

Comment below.

The post RECAP: Avalanche of secondary scoring in Colorado sweep of Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

Defenseman Erik Johnson and left winger Matt Calvert remained unfit to play and were replaced in Colorado’s lineup by Colorado Eagles players Conor Timmins and Logan O’Connor. Both goaltenders Philip Grubauer and Pavel Francouz were also missing tonight for the Avalanche, the former having sustained a groin injury and the latter currently unfit to play per Coach Jared Bednar. In place of Francouz, Michael Hutchinson started in net for the Avalanche, with fellow Eagle Hunter Miska available as backup netminder.

Dallas also made an unexpected goaltending decision prior to the game, starting Ben Bishop in net over Anton Khudobin.

Period One

At just 4:37 into the period, Pierre Bellemare opened the scoring for Colorado on a breakaway pass across the slot from Logon O’Connor, who collected his first NHL playoff point on the assist. Shortly after, the Avalanche went on their first power play of the game when Stars’ winger Alexander Radulov was called for hooking. As they had in previous games, Dallas blocked multiple shots and left Colorado scoreless when playing with the man advantage. The Avalanche, however, quickly demonstrated that scoring goals does not require an extra man on the ice when halfway through the period, Andre Burakovsky picked up a rebound off of a shot from Cale Makar that gave the Avalanche a 2–0 lead.

Thank you, Bellemare!

(And a first playoff point for O'Connor, too!)#GoAvsGo https://t.co/IYEOGjANVm

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 1, 2020

In the three minutes that followed, Colorado scored three more even-strength goals. The first was from Nathan MacKinnon, who received a pass from JT Compher and clapped the puck into the back of the net from high in the slot. The goal extends MacKinnon’s playoff point streak to thirteen games and places him fourth in line for the longest point streak to begin the NHL playoffs, behind only Bryan Trottier, Mark Messier, and Bobby Orr.

The next goal came from Nazem Kadri, who continued in Game 5 to fight for goals and pick up loose rebounds. He grabbed a bouncing puck on what should have been a save by Stars goaltender Ben Bishop, and after putting Colorado up 4–0, the Stars replaced Bishop with Khudobin. A net change did not appear to be what Dallas needed, however, because less than a minute later, Mikko Rantanen deflected the puck into the net after a drive and backhand shot by defenseman Samuel Girard. The Avalanche ended the period up 5–0, and two late penalties meant they would begin the second period playing with a 5–3 man advantage. The period also ended with Colorado up 23–5 in shots on goal.

So, that was fun!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/haOW9NpfRg

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 1, 2020

Period Two

The ability to carry their momentum from one period into the next was something the Avalanche had struggled with in previous games against the Dallas Stars, and while period two did not result in five unanswered Colorado goals, the Avalanche nonetheless maintained their lead. Dallas killed Colorado’s power play for a second time and proceeded to score on a goal from Joe Pavelski at 7:50 into the period. The team appeared to gain some momentum, taking the fight to Colorado’s defense, drawing penalties, and attacking the net. The second period saw eight total penalties from both teams, the Avalanche taking two for unsportsmanlike conduct from both Kadri and Girard.

After a second Stars goal by Miro Heiskanen on the power play, it seemed like Dallas was building the kind of momentum that had enabled previous multi-goal comebacks against Colorado. Bednar’s decision to place Burakovsky on the top line with MacKinnon and Rantanen, however, proved beneficial for a second time tonight when MacKinnon dished the puck to Burakovsky on the right faceoff circle, whose one-timer kept the Avalanche ahead of the Stars and ended the period with a 6–2 Colorado lead.

We're kinda digging Burky and MacKinnon on a line together!#GoAvsGo https://t.co/S0mbuqsEiw

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 1, 2020

Despite six power play opportunities, all of Colorado’s goals in the first and second periods were scored at even strength.

Period Three

The final period continued to see numerous penalties from both sides. Both Blake Comeau and Pavelski left the ice early with ten-minute misconduct penalties, and on a five-on-four Dallas power play with 5:48 left in the third, Jamie Benn scored a goal to cut Colorado’s lead in half. Dallas then pulled their goaltender to no avail, and the Avalanche beat the Stars 6–3, sidestepping elimination and continuing their race for the Stanley Cup. Colorado’s defense blocked 24 shots, and goaltender Michael Hutchinson saved 31 of the 34 shots he faced.

What’s Next

The Avalanche look to tie the seven-game series against Dallas in Game 6 on Wednesday, September 2^nd. The Avalanche will need to limit their penalties in Game 6 and focus on taking advantage of their own power-play opportunities. A loss in Game 6 would mean elimination for Colorado, so fans should expect the players to take to the ice Wednesday with the same urgency as they did today.

The post RECAP: Avalanche score five goals in first period, extend series against Stars appeared first on The Rink.

FIRST PERIOD

Forward Tom Wilson wasted no time finding the back of the net at the :54 mark. The Capitals played the 3-on-3 perfectly. A quick give-and-go from forwards Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, resulted in Ovechkin finding Wilson all alone in front of the net for an easy tap in behind Corey Crawford. The goal gave the feisty Wilson his second of the season.

Breaking down the play, Nick Schmaltz found himself watching the pass and then out of position, while Wilson crashed the net uncontested.

TOP LINE WILLY MAKES HIS PRESENCE KNOWN.#CapsHawks #CapsGiving #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/q7z6kcJ1Tn

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 22, 2018

After a tripping call on Gustav Forsling, the Capitals were able to capitalize on the ensuing power play. Forward Andre Burakovsky found himself wide open at the right circle and fired a shot passed Crawford. Initially, Crawford stopped a Matt Niskanen shot from the left point, however, the rebound found Jakub Vrana in front, who dished it over to Burakovsky for his third tally of the year. Capitals led 2–0 with just over six minutes gone in the game.

V with the slick backhand pass finds Burkie who cleans up and makes it 2-0 #Caps ! #CapsGiving #CapsHawks #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/J6xIIQzy8n

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 22, 2018

Chicago had a chance to generate some momentum with a pair of power plays, during the period, but could not find any sustained pressure on goaltender Braden Holtby. After the first period, Chicago led in shots 14–12.

SECOND PERIOD

Both teams traded punches for half of the second period until the Capitals broke through for a 3–0 lead.

Former Blackhawks’ defenseman Michal Kempny ripped a one-timer from the point past Crawford. Andreas Martinsen lost the defensive zone draw, which found forward Vrana with the puck on his stick, who then dropped a nice pass to Kempny for the marker. The goal gave Kempny his first on the year. Washington took a commanding 3–0 lead.

Czech out this play from V to Kemper for the #Caps 3rd goal of the night! #CapsHawks #Capsgiving #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/OkuRCO6ycn

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 22, 2018

Two minutes later, Brandon Saad put the Hawks on the board with his seventh goal of the season. Saad took a feed from Jonathan Toews and whistled a wrist shot by Holtby blocker side. Toews made a nice area pass in which Saad was able to retrieve along the boards.

Saader strikes side netting!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/3XVPvdLhVm

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 22, 2018

Chicago trailed 3–1 but held a 24-to-21 shot advantage after the middle frame.

THIRD PERIOD

Just over five minutes into the third period, Erik Gustafsson closed the Capital’s lead to one goal. Gustafsson jumped in on the play and found himself on the backhand to beat Holtby. Artem Anisimov and Nick Schmaltz assisted on the play. The goal gave Gustafsson his second on the season.

Gus goes for it and he's rewarded!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/3EEmLfDoZs

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 22, 2018

Any momentum the Hawks built would be short lived. Less than two-minutes later, forward Devante Smith-Pelly extended the lead back to two goals. Center Travis Boyd found Smith-Pelly with a nice cross-crease pass, giving Smith-Pelly fourth on the year.

The play was started by a nice play by Kempny, as he picked a pass out of the air, which would have sprung Anisimov on a breakaway.

Boyd dodges the check to shovel one across to Devo for the #Caps 4th of the night! #CapsHawks #CapsGiving #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/4PQxTfhlzY

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 22, 2018

The goal took the wind right out of the visitors. Crawford would be pulled with just under three minutes to play, but the Hawks would not threaten to shorten the gap.

Chicago out shot the Capitals 39-to-27 for the game, however, could not recover from the first six minutes of the game. Trailing 2–0 before even breaking a sweat is never a recipe for success, especially on the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

THE GOOD

Brandon Saad. The 26-year old winger has goals in three straight games.

39 shots. Chicago generated chances but could only find the scoreboard twice.

THE BAD

Artem Anisimov. The Russian center entered tonight winning 46.7% of his draws, but could only win 2-of-9 tonight. He did assist on Gustafsson’s goal, but has been below average at the dot and has two goals in 22 games.

The power play. Chicago was 0-for-3 on the evening. Even the best teams are going to get blanked on certain nights, however, the Hawks were only credited with three shots on goal with the man advantage tonight.

Alex DeBrincat. The shifty forward now has one goal and one assist in his last twelve games.

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