Let’s get this out of the way now: Andre Burakovsky is one of the best forwards on this team and never should have been scratched or sent to Hershey during the 2014-15 season.

By the Numbers

Burakovsky’s on-ice shot-attempt percentage in 10-game running segments, according to War on Ice

Pat’s Take

Oh, Andre.

How Why do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

• Points per 60: 1.68 (3rd among Caps’ forwards)
• Relative shot attempt percentage: +4.67 (1st)
• Shot attempts per 60: 63.51 (1st)
• Relative scoring chance percentage: +2.16 (2nd)
• Scoring chances per 60: 29.82 (1st)
• Individual shot attempts per 60: 12.71 (3rd)

What a wonderful season Andre had. The only regret is that he didn’t spend the entirety of it getting top six minutes in DC. But the future is bright for the man they call Burracuda. For a frame of reference, here’s a look at how he compares to Flames rookie, and Calder Trophy finalist,  Johnny Gaudreau, as well as his more highly touted and utilized teammate, Evgeny Kuznetsov.

First, their shot attempt percentage:

Next, their scoring chance percentage:

And, for good measure, points per 60:

The charts tell a story: Burakovsky can more than hold his own.

But let’s not just compare Burakovsky to a couple of the other better young players in the game, let’s also take a look at what kind of impact he had on his teammates. Burakovsky skated 45 or more minutes with nine different forwards.

Of the nine forwards, eight saw an improvement in shot attempt percentage when playing with Burakovsky. Only Nick Backstrom saw a slight drop, from 54 percent to 53.7 percent of shot attempts. All nine saw a shot attempt percentage of 51.5 percent or higher and five saw a shot attempt percentage of 54.2 or higher. This is what they call making your teammates better.

But, this isn’t a story only about possession. Burakovksy had similar results in terms of the percentage of goals scored when he was on the ice.

Seven of the nine saw an improvement in goals for percentage when skating with Burakovksy. When young Andre played with Michael Latta (48:40 TOI together) and Kuznetsov (46:45), the Caps saw 100 percent of the goals scored.

Perhaps even more impressive is the scoring juggernaut Burakovsky turned the first line into. The Caps scored 48.1 percent of the goals when Alex Ovechkin was on the ice without Burakovsky and 46.1 percent of the goals when Backstrom was skating without number 65. Burakovsky skated a little over 200 minutes with each and both of the Caps superstars saw a goals for percentage of 65.2 percent during that time. As a trio, they saw 55.4 percent of shot attempts and 68.2 percent of goals go in the Caps favor. In other words, it is completely ludicrous to not have Burakosvky on the top line.

Burracuda on RMNB

• This is important: Andre Burakovsky scored twice on the Rangers in game four, singlehandedly giving the Capitals a 3-1 series lead. (Let’s not discuss what happened after that.)
• Andre was half of a breakout pair of foreign-born Caps younglings in the postseason. He and Evgeny Kuznetsov played superbly– and they’ll both factor greatly into the future of this franchise.
• Extreme rewind: Andre scored two minutes into his freaking career. His mom cried.
• Lately, Burakovsky had been rooming with Michael Latta and Tom Wilson. Latta’s only complaint: Burakovsky and Wilson are always wrestling.
• BTW, and just so we’re clear on this: everyone calls him Burracuda. It’s not just us.

• I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I’m still not sure what is going on in that GIF above.
• You know who else loves Burra: super-rich Torontonian Mike Babcock. Nick Backstrom is also a fan; he thinks Burra might be better than he was at age 19.
• Andre got sent down to Hershey because of the straight-up bad talent evaluation system on the Capitals, but when he was with the Bears Andre did well. He scored goals, but I really want to direct you to him staring down that troll Paul Bissonnette. Right on. Screw that guy.

• Andre got sent down in mid December, making him eligible to play at World Juniors, where he would have done very well. The team did not let him go for fear they would need him due to injury.
• Most important quote on the player comes from the team’s most important player, Alex Ovechkin: “Of course he don’t have that kind of experience yet, but 100 percent in the future, he’s going to be one of our leader.”
• Who slapped Andre in the face after his game-winning goal? Hint: the culprit is Swedish.

Your Turn

What did you think of Burakovsky’s season, including the Caps’ handling of him? What kind of future do you see for him in DC?

Read more: Japers Rink