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Logan O'Connor

Avalanche’s Logan O’Connor Out 5-6 Months Following Hip Surgery

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Avalanche winger Logan O’Connor underwent successful hip surgery Friday morning in New York City, the team announced. He’s expected to miss five to six months recovering, meaning he’ll miss training camp and at least the first month of the 2025-26 season.

This is O’Connor’s second hip surgery in 16 months. He had surgery in March 2024 to correct a hip problem that had caused him to miss short stints of action earlier in the season, ending his season.

That procedure didn’t discourage Colorado’s hopes that O’Connor would be a long-term bottom-six piece for the club. They signed him to a six-year, $15MM extension with a modified no-trade clause last September, days after he stepped back on the ice for training camp.

While O’Connor remained a strong defensive presence on the right side of the ice in 2024-25, earning Selke Trophy votes for the first time in his career, his offensive impact took a hit following the first surgery. He posted 10 goals and 21 points in 80 games for 0.26 points per game, his worst output since the 2020-21 campaign.

There’s optimism that could be a fluky dropoff. For one, the hip surgery didn’t affect O’Connor’s calling card – his speed. He recorded a top skating speed of 23.25 mph this past season, according to NHL EDGE, 0.14 mph more than last season’s peak. He did record fewer speed bursts over 20 mph per game in 2024-25 than he did in 2023-24, but was still in the 91st percentile league-wide for the stat among forwards.

Still, two procedures in such a short time frame are concerning for O’Connor’s availability moving forward. That aforementioned extension kicks in for the upcoming season and runs through the 2030-31 campaign. His $2.5MM cap hit is a reasonable chunk of change for a minute-munching defensive specialist, though, so even if he never rebounds toward producing at a 30-40 point pace, the Avs will still get fine value out of O’Connor’s contract as long as he continues to provide high value from his possession impacts and checking game.

Until O’Connor returns to the lineup sometime around Thanksgiving, he’ll miss enough time for the Avalanche to create some early salary cap flexibility by placing him on long-term injured reserve. They’ll still need to be able to create enough space to activate him when he’s ready to return, though. In training camp, his absence will mean more leeway for names like Ivan Ivan, Oskar Olausson, and Nikita Prishchepov to fight for an opening-night job.

Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images.

Avalanche Sign Logan O’Connor To Six-Year Extension

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The Colorado Avalanche have gotten to work early on one of their key secondary scorers by announcing a six-year contract extension for forward Logan O’Connor. O’Connor was set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer with his three-year, $3.15MM contract expiring. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports O’Connor will earn $2.5MM each year of the deal.

Although he was raised in Calgary after his father, Myles O’Connor, retired from professional hockey in 1998, O’Connor has spent much of his adult life in Denver, CO. He spent three years just south of Ball Arena at the University of Denver from 2015-18 collecting 16 goals and 43 points in 108 games while helping his team to a National Championship in 2017. He signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Avalanche after his junior season in 2018 and made his NHL debut with the club the following season.

O’Connor performed admirably in his first two years with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles but struggled to find his footing in the NHL. He registered only two goals in 21 games in his first two years with Colorado before injuries limited him to only three goals and five points in 22 games during the 2020-21 regular season.

He finally came into his current role during the 2021-22 NHL season scoring eight goals and 24 points in 81 games while averaging just under 14 minutes of ice time per game. He became a physical player and an effective penalty killer becoming an all-out annoying presence for the opposition. He helped the Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup championship since 2001 that spring scoring one goal in game three of Colorado’s semi-final matchup against the St. Louis Blues while registering three more assists throughout the postseason.

O’Connor played similarly for the Avalanche the following season scoring nine goals and 26 points in 82 contests but failed to register any points in Colorado’s seven-game loss to the Seattle Kraken in the opening round of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.

The 2023-24 season was a breakout season for O’Connor before a hip injury ended his year early. He scored 13 goals and 25 points in 57 games including three goals on the penalty kill which was good for a share of fifth amongst the NHL by season’s end. His shooting percentage more than doubled to 15.3% and Colorado’s third line was noticeably weaker after O’Connor went down with injury.

O’Connor is once again expected to be a major bottom-six piece for the Avalanche as they look to regain their footing in a tough Western Conference. The team hasn’t advanced beyond Round Two of the playoffs since winning the Stanley Cup in 2022 largely because of their lack of depth. His $2.5MM salary should be more than digestible for a cash-strapped team such as the Avalanche as they hope O’Connor will be a focal point of their third line for years to come.

Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports shared a quote from Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland surmising O’Connor’s importance to the team by saying, “He is a relentless worker and competitor who brings energy and grit to the lineup every night. His speed and skating ability makes him a dangerous two-way player and he is one of our top penalty killers. Logan is also a great teammate and takes pride in being a part of the Denver community“. 

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports images. 

Evening Notes: O’Connor, Schaefer, Stamkos

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Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now is reporting that Colorado Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor will be ready for training camp this Thursday. The 28-year-old has been skating regularly for about a month and has ramped up his preparations in the last few weeks. O’Connor had season-ending hip surgery and missed the playoffs last season after setting a career-high in goals with 13 of them in 57 games.

The Missouri City, Texas native continued to be one of the fastest wingers in the NHL last year and put up strong penalty-kill numbers while finding chemistry with linemates Ross Colton and Miles Wood. Despite his strong results last season, O’Connor is likely due for some regression as he shot over 15% last year which was an increase of almost seven percent from his previous season.

In other evening notes:

  • Corey Pronman of The Athletic reports that 2025 NHL Draft prospect Matthew Schaefer has contracted mono and will miss some time to start the season. Schaefer was taken first overall in the 2023 OHL draft and spent last season with the Erie Otters where he posted three goals and 14 assists in 56 games. The 17-year-old is projected to be the first defenseman taken in next year’s draft and will likely be taken in the top 10. Schaefer’s offensive numbers didn’t jump off the page in his rookie OHL season, however,  he only turned 17 earlier this month and will see increased minutes and responsibility this season, when he returns to health.
  • Nashville Predators coach Andrew Brunette is most excited to see Steven Stamkos’ leadership at work when the veteran begins his first training camp with his new team (as per Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean). Stamkos joined Nashville via free agency and brings a large skillset to the team, but it is his reputation and leadership that has Brunette excited. Brunette told reporters that he will have Stamkos play with a pile of players early on to see how things go and to try and find the right mix. However, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him paired up with youngsters Thomas Novak or Luke Evangelista, given that Brunette sees leadership as Stamkos’s biggest asset.

West Notes: Zadorov, O’Connor, Jets

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Defenseman Nikita Zadorov is one of several notable pending unrestricted free agents in Vancouver.  It appears that they’re going to make one last push to try to sign him as CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports (Twitter link) the Canucks are preparing to tender the blueliner a final offer soon.  Vancouver acquired the 29-year-old back in November and while he didn’t light it up following the move (14 points in 54 games), Zadorov had a big showing in the playoffs that has certainly bolstered his value.  He picked up four goals and four assists in 13 games while averaging nearly four and a half hits per game in just over 20 minutes a night.  Dhaliwal adds that some think he could get six years at $6MM per season if he gets to the open market.  It would be surprising to see the Canucks go that high with who else needs to be signed but they’ll make one last attempt to try to bridge the gap.

More from the West:

  • While Mikko Rantanen is the most prominent member of the Avalanche who is eligible for a contract extension this summer, Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now examines the other forward of note who can sign a new deal in July, winger Logan O’Connor. The 27-year-old was in the midst of a career year with 13 goals and 12 assists in 57 games before undergoing hip surgery just before the trade deadline.  Considering he is also a quality penalty killer, Rawal posits that O’Connor could push past the $4MM mark on the open market in 2025.  That would certainly be a substantial improvement on the $1.05MM cap charge he’s set to carry in the third and final year of his contract next season.
  • Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun suggests that Eric Comrie could be a good fit for Winnipeg’s backup goalie vacancy. He had some success with them before departing for Buffalo two years ago while goaltending coach Wade Flaherty, who worked with him previously, is still on the staff.  Perhaps more notably, a deal for Comrie should check in at or close to the $775K minimum salary, giving them more room to work with as they look to retain or replace some of their pending free agents.  Laurent Brossoit had a strong showing as Connor Hellebuyck’s backup in 2023-24 but is expected to be too expensive for the Jets to retain this summer.

Central Notes: Rantanen, Capuano, Hakanpaa, O’Connor

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Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen will be eligible for a contract extension on July 1st, giving the team more to worry about than just their nine pending free agents. A new deal won’t come cheap either, shares Corey Masisak of The Denver Post, who compared Rantanen’s extension talks to David Pastrnak, who signed an eight-year, $90MM contract with the Boston Bruins in March of 2023. Pastrnak’s deal carries $9MM in signing bonuses and $26MM in total salary in the first two seasons alone – a price that’d be hard to stomach for an Avalanche team set to pay Nathan MacKinnon $16MM and $12.15MM in salary over the next two seasons. They’ll be helped along by Cale Makar’s team-friendly – relative to his talent – cap hit of $9MM, but he’ll offer another headache when he’s eligible for a new deal in 2027.

Rantanen recorded the second 100-point season of his career this year, though he fell one point shy of the career-high 105 points he posted last year. He’s proven to be one of the best wingers in the league and an integral piece of the Avalanche lineup, with Masisak noting Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland’s desire to build around a core of MacKinnon, Rantanen, Makar, and Devon Toews. The Avalanche have three of those pieces locked up through the 2026-27 campaign – though they’ll need to be ready to shell out a pretty penny to do it.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Free agent coach Jack Capuano could be a candidate for the Minnesota Wild’s open assistant coaching position, shares Michael Russo of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Ottawa Senators chose not to re-sign Capuano to his associate coach contract this summer, bringing an end to his five-year career with the team. Russo spoke to Capuano’s long history with new Wild head coach John Hynes. That could be a useful connection as he looks to join the fourth team of his NHL coaching career.
  • Dallas Stars defenseman Jani Hakanpaa won’t be joining the team on their trip to Edmonton for Game 6, shares Owen Newkirk of the Dallas Stars Radio (Twitter link). Hakanpaa is set to miss his 32nd-straight game with a lower-body injury suffered in March. The Stars will be eager for Hakanpaa’s return, should it come this postseason, as they sort through questionable defense depth from Nils Lundkvist, Derrick Pouliot, and Lian Bichsel. Dallas is also facing a potential injury to top defender Chris Tanev, who exited Game 4 after blocking a shot from Evander Kane, but returned for Game 5. Whether he’s playing with good health or playoff resiliency, the Stars now won’t be able to bolster the depth behind Tanev until at least Game 7.
  • Colorado Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor is recovering well after undergoing hip surgery and should be ready for the 2024-25 training camp, shares Misisak (Twitter link). O’Connor missed the final 19 games of the regular season with his lower-body injury – though he’ll reflect on the season as a strong one, having scored at the highest rate of his career with 25 points in 57 games, while averaging a career-high 14:57 in ice time.

Avalanche Notes: Landeskog, O’Connor, Girard

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While there has been plenty of speculation over the last calendar year that the Colorado Avalanche may see the return of their captain Gabriel Landeskog by the beginning of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, it appears this theory may have legs. In a report today from Colleen Flynn of The Hockey News, Landeskog will be traveling with the team to Winnipeg to start their first-round series against the Jets.

Infamously, Landeskog’s last game came on June 26th, 2022, the same date that the Avalanche unseated the Tampa Bay Lightning at the top of the hockey world, claiming their third Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. After the Stanley Cup celebration, however, Landeskog underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and has missed every game since.

Being that a return is unlikely given that it has never been done in the NHL prior, Landeskog’s drive and determination have at least produced non-zero odds of a potential return. As the Avalanche look to make it beyond the first found of the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, the return of their captain would certainly help their cause.

Other Avalanche notes:

  • In the same report from Flynn, forward Logan O’Connor will also be joining the team on their flight to Manitoba. Nevertheless, there has been no indication that O’Connor is close to returning in time for the start of Round One, as he continues to recover from hip surgery that has kept him out of the lineup since the first week of March.
  • Unlike O’Connor, one player who is close to a return is defenseman Samuel Girard once again according to Colleen Flynn of The Hockey News. Girard has been out with a concussion for about a week and remains questionable to return for the first game of the series against the Jets. If the Avalanche are able to get a few players back at the beginning of the series, the hockey world saw not all that long ago how dangerous a fully healthy Colorado lineup can be.

Logan O’Connor To Undergo Hip Surgery, Out For Season

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Avalanche winger Logan O’Connor will undergo hip surgery this week and will not return this season, Ryan Boulding of NHL.com reports. O’Connor, who last played on March 4, has been dealing with the injury for most of the season, head coach Jared Bednar said.

Bednar issued multiple other injury updates Sunday, confirming that veteran winger Zach Parise is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and that Ross Colton, Jack Johnson and Artturi Lehkonen did not practice due to illness but will travel with the team on their upcoming four-game road trip. Depth center Chris Wagner, who sat out Friday’s game against the Wild with an upper-body injury, will be available on the trip if needed, Bednar said.

Before exiting the lineup last week, O’Connor missed a four-game stretch in February and a two-game stretch in November with a lower-body injury. Bednar’s comments imply that O’Connor sustained the initial injury as late as Nov. 20, the game immediately prior to his first absence of the season.

Despite the injury, O’Connor has managed the best season of his career and was a necessary stabilizing force with many Avalanche depth forwards either missing significant time or underperforming. He managed 13 goals, 12 assists and 25 points in 57 games, a career-best 0.44 points per game pace, although he’d failed to get on the scoresheet in his last seven games.

Aside from his point totals, O’Connor also recorded career-highs in ATOI (14:57) while putting up good even-strength possession stats (54.5 CF%, 54.3 xGF%) in shutdown usage. He was also a significant part of the Avs’ top-10 penalty kill, averaging 2:17 per game.

Luckily for Colorado, GM Chris MacFarland went big-game hunting at the trade deadline. Their acquisitions of Casey Mittelstadt and Sean Walker will draw the most attention, but a targeted move to snag Yakov Trenin from the Predators should help balance out O’Connor’s absence. The 27-year-old Trenin hasn’t scored at O’Connor’s rate this year, posting 14 points in 61 games, but he does have double-digit goal totals and is comfortable in defensive usage and penalty-kill scenarios. He’ll slot seamlessly into the third-line right wing O’Connor was projected to occupy behind Valeri Nichushkin and Mikko Rantanen down the stretch and in the postseason.

O’Connor is in the second season of a three-year, $3.15MM extension signed with the Avs in 2021 that began in the 2022-23 season. He costs $1.05MM against the cap, which the Avalanche could use to increase their financial flexibility down the stretch by placing him on LTIR, but are unlikely to do so with a $2.1MM cushion still remaining from Pavel Francouz’s and Gabriel Landeskog’s combined $9MM cap hits.

Avalanche Notes: Foudy, Pavel, Nichushkin, O’Connor

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A few hours ago, the Colorado Avalanche made a pair of trades, sending Ryan Johansen to the Philadelphia Flyers as a part of a trade to land Sean Walker in the Mile High City, as well as sending Bowen Byram to the Buffalo Sabres for Casey Mittelstadt. In doing so, with both Walker and Mittelstadt unavailable to the team tonight, two roster spots opened up in the active lineup before the team’s game against the Detroit Red Wings.

To solve the issue, the Avalanche have recalled forwards Jean-Luc Foudy and Ondrej Pavel from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. Both players should feature in the team’s bottom six, with Foudy taking over as the center of the third line, and Pavel joining Chris Wagner and Andrew Cogliano on the team’s fourth line.

Both players have primarily played on the Eagles this season, with Pavel registering one game with the Avalanche back in November. At the AHL level, Pavel has suited up in 48 games for the Eagles, scoring three goals and seven points in total. Foudy, however, has had his season severely limited by injury, only registering 12 games in the AHL, scoring two goals and six points up to this point.

Other notes:

  • Making his way back from the NHLPA Player Assistance Program, the Avalanche are hoping that forward Valeri Nichushkin will be able to make his way back to the lineup on Friday against the Minnesota Wild (X Link). Although not playing since early January, Nichushkin is still sitting fourth on the team in scoring, putting up 22 goals and 42 points in his first 40 games this year.
  • Another player who will not be in the lineup for Colorado tonight will be forward Logan O’Connor, who is out with a lower-body injury according to Ryan Boulding of the NHL. Previously missing time in mid-February with a similar injury, O’Connor has still put together a quality season for the Avalanche. Suiting up in 57 games for Colorado this season, O’Connor has scored 13 goals and 25 points overall, with three of those goals coming on the penalty kill.

Injury Notes: O’Connor, Murphy, Acciari

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Missing the team’s last three games due to a lower-body injury, Logan O’Connor will once again not be an option for the Colorado Avalanche as they match up against the Vancouver Canucks tonight (X Link). Still considered day-to-day, the Avalanche are waiting for O’Connor to fully recover so that he may be in the lineup more continuously.

Already setting a career-high in goals this season with 13, O’Connor is well on his way to setting career-highs in assists and points, as well. Not only has been playing considerably better compared to his career averages, but he is also tied for fourth on the team in goals while leading the team in short-handed tallies.

With O’Connor set to miss his fourth straight game, it will also allow the team to give an extended look to Chris Wagner, who was recalled on February 16th. In his first game back in an Avalanche sweater since the 2015-16 season, he skated in a little over six minutes of the team’s recent contest against the Arizona Coyotes, putting up zero points.

Other injury notes:

  • Still rehabbing his way back from a groin injury that has kept him out of the lineup since January 13th, Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy is looking for a second opinion on his injury according to Charlie Roumeliotis of NBC Sports Chicago. Offering no timeline for his return, it appears that Murphy will still be out for the foreseeable future. Registering a full season last year; Murphy has had plenty of injury concerns in the past and has only suited up in 46 games for the Blackhawks up to this point in the season.
  • Out with a concussion ever since a blow to the head from Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Brenden Dillon on February 6th, Pittsburgh Penguins’ forward Noel Acciari has returned to practice in a non-contact jersey (X Link). Brought in as an unrestricted free agent last offseason, the Penguins were hoping that Acciari could give a major boost to Pittsburgh’s bottom-six. In 39 games before entering concussion protocol, Acciari scored three goals and four points for the Penguins as well as delivering 92 total hits to opponents.

Avalanche Recall Chris Wagner With Logan O’Connor Questionable

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The Colorado Avalanche have recalled forward Chris Wagner. This recall marks a notable step forward in Wagner’s recovery from an Achille’s Tear before this season. The injury has limited him to just 11 AHL games this season, where he’s scored seven points. Wagner will now join the NHL roster to relieve Logan O’Connor, who is questionable to play in the team’s Sunday game against the Arizona Coyotes, per team head coach Jared Bednar. O’Connor is facing a lower-body injury that is expected to hold him out for the short term, though Bednar added that he doesn’t want to rush O’Connor back and risk turning a one-week injury into a longer-term one.

Wagner, 32, has served as a quaint, bottom-six centerman for much of his career, never scoring more than 20 points in a season but still managing 360 career NHL games. Wagner’s career year came in the 2018-19 season when he scored 12 goals and 19 points in 76 games with the Boston Bruins. Wagner would go on to spend the next four seasons in Boston, before signing a one-year, $775K contract with Colorado this summer.

Wagner’s minor league performances this season bring his career totals up to 92 goals and 171 points across 374 AHL games. It’s been a fruitful career for the former fifth-round pick, selected 122nd overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Anaheim Ducks. Wagner has become one of seven players to play in at least 300 NHL games after being selected in 2010’s fifth, sixth, or seventh round, joining the likes of Brendan Gallagher, Frederik Andersen, and John Klingberg.

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