Burakovsky was born in Klagenfurt, in southern Austria where his father was playing hockey at the time, but grew up in Malmö, Sweden, his father's hometown. His father is Robert Burakovsky, who was drafted 217th overall 1985 NHL Entry Draft and played 23 games with the Ottawa Senators. His mother is Pernilla Burakovsky. He has two sisters, Alexandra Burakovsky and Anna Burakovsky. He is of Russian-Jewish descent.
On 4 September 2013, Burakovsky signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Capitals. He then joined the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League for the 2013–14 season. Burakovsky scored his first NHL goal in his NHL debut on 9 October 2014, against Dustin Tokarski of the Montreal Canadiens. He became the second-fastest Capitals player to score their first career NHL goal, and the 13th Capitals player to score in his NHL debut. In 2015–16 he appeared in 79 games, scored 17 goals, and had 21 assists. On 22 January 2017, against the Dallas Stars, Burakovsky scored the game's first goal for the fourth consecutive game, tying the NHL record for the most consecutive team games scoring the first goal. The last player to achieve this was Jonathan Cheechoo during the 2007–08 NHL season. On July 4, 2017, he agreed to a 2-year, $6-million contract with the Washington Capitals. During the 2017–18 season, on 24 October 2017, Burakovsky required surgery on his thumb after it was injured in a game against the Florida Panthers and was expected to miss six to eight weeks. He returned to the Capitals lineup on 8 December 2017 after missing 20 games. Burakovsky was sidelined with an injury during the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs and missed the remainder of the Capitals first round against the Columbus Blue Jackets. After missing 10 playoff games, and going pointless upon returning, Burakovsky scored two goals in Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning to help send the Capitals to the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals. He admitted to hiring a sports psychologist, saying, "I think when I'm doing something bad, I'm thinking about it for a long time, and it just sits in my head. That's something I have to work on in the summer." Despite his struggles, Burakovsky won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals on 7 June 2018.
Colorado Avalanche
On 28 June 2019, Burakovsky was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Scott Kosmachuk and a second and third-round pick in 2020. On 15 July 2019, Burakovsky agreed to his qualifying offer, accepting a one-year, $3.25 million contract with the Avalanche.
