After a long recovery, Logan O'Connor returns to the ice tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins, shaking up the Avalanche's bottom six and bolstering their penalty kill.
The Colorado Avalanche have announced that Logan O’Connor will be making his season debut tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as the return of Ross Colton to the lineup.
This season has been a roller coaster for O’Connor and the process of getting back into the lineup. Originally out since June 6, 2025, when he underwent a successful hip surgery scheduled to keep him out for five to six months, meaning if all went according to the original schedule, we should have seen him back by the earliest in December, if not January in the new year.
Though the schedule has not been to plan, there have been numerous updates from Head Coach Jared Bednar throughout the season, including updates on his workload, rehab, and skating process, but no clear-cut, definitive update on when he could see him back in the lineup.
The biggest update was just a couple of weeks ago, on March 10, when he practiced in a non-contact jersey and was going to join the team on their upcoming road trip. He didn't end up participating in that road trip, but his on-ice practice and maintenance continued throughout the stretch, and he joined the team on their next road trip. He didn’t get the opportunity against the Chicago Blackhawks or the Washington Capitals, but all is clear for him to make his debut against the Penguins.
It will be interesting to see how the lineups are shaken up with O’Connor’s debut and Colton returning from an injury since March 10. It's hard to imagine the Parker Kelly, Jack Drury, and Joel Kiviranta lineup is broken up, given how consistent they are on the ice and the production-to-defensive ratio they bring.
O'Connor has been missed greatly, even though the numbers on paper might not show it. He has been a staple on the penalty kill unit over the past couple of seasons, leading all Avalanche forwards in shorthanded ice time per game in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.
It's fair to say that Zahkar Bardakov and Gavin Brindley will be coming out of the lineup, and we know that Nazem Kadri might be shifting back to center with the wing help coming back, so the bottom-six is getting a major shakeup.
With Artturi Lehkonen still out due to an upper-body injury, and knock on wood, no other injuries occur to the Avalanche, we could finally see a fully healthy Avalanche team that has been knocked around by injuries since the 2022 Stanley Cup roster
