Logan O’Connor’s season is done for the Colorado Avalanche.
The veteran forward is set to have season-ending hip surgery, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Sunday.
O’Connor was in the middle of a career year for the Avs, but this has been a lingering injury. He missed four games last month, then returned to play six times before shutting it down again. There’s no timeline on a return until after the surgery is complete, but Bednar ruled him out for the rest of the regular-season and the playoffs.
“Well, it sucks because he’s been a real good contributor to our team for a long time,” Bednar said. “He’s really dialed in with what he has to do.”
O’Connor finishes the year with a career-high 13 goals in 57 games. He was on pace to easily surpass his best point total as well. He’s been a fixture on the Avs’ second-best line this season, along with Ross Colton and Miles Wood, but Bednar broke that group up recently and cited a decline in performance.
The Avs added three forwards in the days leading up to the trade deadline — No. 2 center Casey Mittelstadt, along with depth forwards Yakov Trenin and Brandon Duhaime. Bednar acknowledged that O’Connor’s deteriorating health played into the club’s aggressive moves this past week.
“We had an idea that it wasn’t going well for him,” Bednar said. “I would say yeah. Adding depth is important regardless, but especially when you’re dealing with potentially getting bad news on a guy.”
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Corey Masisak
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