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Tag: logan o’connor

  • As Jared Bednar tries new line combos, Avalanche keeps winning

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    This edition of the Colorado Avalanche has been so consistently good that Jared Bednar, often a tinkerer when he’s looking for a spark, hasn’t needed to turn the line blender on very often.

    After starting 31 consecutive games with the same top line, the Avs’ top trio had a new look Saturday night in a 4-2 win against the Nashville Predators. Well, new to start a game, anyway.

    Bednar moved rookie Gavin Brindley to the top line in the middle of the previous game, a 6-2 thumping of the Florida Panthers. Brindley started a game there for the first time, bumping Martin Necas down to the third line.

    “Awesome,” Brindley said. “Playing with the best, if not one of the best players in the world. Pretty damn cool. I never thought that would come to fruition. Yeah, really cool.”

    NHL’s rash of overtime games needs a solution: Three-point games

    Bednar’s rationale was pretty simple: He liked how Brindley played with Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen the game before, and wanted to see it again. Part of the reason for the switch Thursday against the Panthers was Necas has been playing through an illness, and didn’t love how he was playing.

    It says something about how this season is going for the Avs that Necas still set up a goal and scored one, albeit one that was taken off the board because of an offsides challenge, against Florida.

    There are still 50 games left in this season, but the Avs have steamrolled their way to the top of the NHL standings. They have 53 points in 32 games, which is tied for the third-most in league history at this point.

    Bednar’s philosophy on building lines has a couple of core ideas. If he finds a line he really likes, he will stick with it for long stretches, and will likely to go back to at some point in the future. But, he also likes to tinker, and often says he wants every player to play with everyone over the course of a regular season.

    “It’s definitely a bonus,” MacKinnon said of the flexibility. “We might need different combos eventually. I think it’s good to switch things up sometimes. I thought all four lines played pretty good (Saturday night).”

    The past couple of Avalanche teams have given him good reason to shake up his lineup, either with slow starts to the season or in-season funks. The closet thing this group has had to an adverse stretch was a four-game losing streak that still involved collecting three points (0-1-3).

    So, after 30 overwhelmingly successful games, Bednar did a little tinkering. Brindley’s return to the lineup against Florida led to a few new looks. Ross Colton moved to the middle for the first time all season, centering the third line. Brindley slotted in next to him, playing with the third line for the first time.

    Jack Drury moved down to the fourth line, with Parker Kelly and Joel Kiviranta. A trio of Drury, Kelly and Logan O’Connor became of Bednar’s favorite lines last season, and they had an excellent playoff series against the Dallas Stars.

    Roster construction and O’Connor’s injuries has kept that line apart this year, but Bednar has said they will play together again at some point. And Kiviranta is a pretty similar player to O’Connor.

    Grading The Week: Avalanche need to avoid first-round dogfight vs. Dallas, Quinn Hughes in Stanley Cup Playoffs

    Drury took the demotion in stride against Florida, and then scored Colorado’s second goal against Nashville.

    “It’s easy. It’s part of being a pro,” Drury said before the Nashville game. “I’ve said this before, but there are so many good players (here), it doesn’t really matter who you are going out with. Any forward you go out with is going to be able to make plays and be smart. It’s easy.”

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    Corey Masisak

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  • Keeler: Nathan MacKinnon says Game 7 loss to Dallas ‘like getting over a breakup.’ Now Avalanche star is healed, out for revenge

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    The ghost in the stall meant one thing: Nathan MacKinnon isn’t done haunting the NHL yet.

    As the Avalanche locker room opened for media a few Fridays ago during training camp, the big names crisscrossed, de-taped and unwound. Captain Gabe Landeskog held court at one end. Newbie Brent Burns grinned toothlessly at the other.

    “Every day, you see (MacKinnon) do 10-12 things that are like, ‘Holy (expletive),’” Burns, a veteran defenseman who came over from Carolina, cackled. “And usually I’m at the wrong end of it. So it’s not good.”

    Practice had just ended. MacKinnon’s skates were inside his locker. The rest of him was gone. Grinding.

    “Working out,” an Avs staffer told me.

    Twenty minutes became 25.

    “He’s riding the bike now,” another staffer said. “Will be a bit of time.”

    Twenty-five minutes became 30.

    Then 35. Then 40. Then 45.

    My phone buzzed.

    “He’s on the way,” a voice said.

    Think this man is easing up at age 30? Think he’s satisfied with one Stanley Cup?

    You must be joking.

    “I enjoy the day-to-day grind of it,” the Avs’ iconic center explained. “I enjoy working out. I enjoy skating with guys back home —  just relaxing and working hard and trying to get better. So that kind of keeps me in the moment. ”

    The rocket never rests. MacKinnon stands 6-foot in socks. But if carrying the Avs on his back, if dragging them kicking and screaming, gets Colorado another Stanley Cup in 2026, he’s good with that, too. Hop on.

    “Just trying to get my mind and body ready for a long season,” MacKinnon continued. “Each day I come here, I’m just trying to get a little better. Just try to win every day I have. And hopefully that takes me and the team to a good spot.”

    He’s in a better place than last May. That’s when old friend Mikko Rantanen, in what we hope doesn’t become a recurring theme, tore into MacKinnon’s chest and ripped his heart out. Rantanen, a stalwart of the Avs’ 2022 Cup champs, scored a hat trick to lead his new team, the Dallas Stars, to a maddening, series-clinching Game 7 win over his old one.

    “It’s like getting over a breakup,” MacKinnon said of last season’s ignominious end. “It just takes a long time. Time heals everything.”

    Including the Avs. Last spring’s wounds are this fall’s scars. Last October’s concerns are this year’s colonnades.

    Landeskog, the Captain, is back from the jump. So is big Valeri Nichushkin.

    Brock Nelson signed a 3-year extension to nip that nagging “2C” question in the bud. New winger Victor Olofsson can hit a flea from 50 yards out. Burns brings 6-foot-5 beef to the blue line, to say nothing of the best dang beard in pro hockey.

    “I think when you all lose together, you’re in a painful experience together, I think you can come out of it stronger,” MacKinnon said of the Avs’ first-round elimination by a depleted Stars roster. “No one (in this locker room) was blaming each other; it was all on each other. I think it was a tough loss. We lost to a really good team. But I think we’ll be better because of it.”

    Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) takes the puck down ice against Dallas Stars center Mikael Granlund (64) and Esa Lindell (23) in the first period of game four of the first round of the NHL playoffs at Ball Arena in Denver on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

    One Cup? For Nate, it’s not enough. It was never enough.

    Mighty MacK’s good pal Sidney Crosby went seven years between championships. Colorado’s Burgundy Bolide turned 30 on Sept. 1. Father Time is the only dude MacKinnon can’t beat to the goal line.

    “This is our fourth year (since 2022), so you just never know when it’s going to come,” the Avs center mused. “It’s just … sometimes, you win a couple in a row. Sometimes, it took (the Penguins) seven. And (then) they won two in a row. Hopefully, that happens for us one day. But I like where we’re at.”

    Enter Burns. Enter Olofsson. Enter new assistant coach Dave Hakstol to help put some pep back into Colorado’s special teams. The Avs’ power play buzzsaw of the ’22 postseason was positively toothless in ’25 against the Stars.

    “It’s not a ton of turnover, like last season (when) we had like nine new guys,” MacKinnon said. “Most of those guys are back. So I think it’s going to be a positive year — positive that we have so many returning guys.”

    The negative? Landy turns 33 in November. Val turns 31 in March. Nelson’s 34th birthday falls on Oct. 15. Burns is lurching toward 41.

    There’s a lot of mileage in that locker room. And an awful lot of tread worn off an awful lot of tires.

    “I won’t look at Nate any differently if he wins one (Cup) or if he wins three,” Eddie Olczyk, the Warner Bros. Discovery and TNT analyst, told me by phone. “He’s won. He’s separated himself from many, many great players who have played this game.

    “In terms of game-breakers and difference-makers, (the Avs) have two of the very best at different positions in (MacKinnon) and (defenseman) Cale Makar. But you need to stay healthy.”

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    Sean Keeler

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  • Another huge night for Casey Mittelstadt leads to fifth straight Avalanche win

    Another huge night for Casey Mittelstadt leads to fifth straight Avalanche win

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    That trade for Casey Mittelstadt looks pretty good so far.

    Mittelstadt had three assists, including setting up the go-ahead goal with 6:31 left, and the Colorado Avalanche shook off a few minutes of lackluster hockey in the third period Sunday night to defeat the Ottawa Senators, 5-4, at Ball Arena.

    It’s the Avs’ fifth straight win since starting the season 0-4. It’s also back-to-back three-point games for Mittelstadt, who joined the club before the trade deadline last season from Buffalo and signed a three-year contract this offseason.

    “Just to have him last year, and then see the work he put in this summer, we knew there was another gear this guy could find,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Another step he can take in his game, like his complete game, but what’s going to follow is the production. He’s a super-talented guy. He sees things other guys can’t see, and he makes plays other guys can’t make.”

    Mittelstadt earned the primary assist on all three goals. He’s up to five goals and 12 points in nine games, and hasn’t played a minute yet this season with the two guys who could eventually be his wings — Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin.

    He found O’Connor in front of the net to make it a 3-2 game. Ross Colton continued his scoring tear to start the season with his eighth of the season 90 seconds later. Nathan MacKinnon added an empty-netter with 1:15 left to seal the win.

    “(Mittelstadt) will find you anywhere. It’s insane,” O’Connor said. “You just get open and … forehand, backhand, three guys on him, no space, he’s still going to find you. It’s pretty remarkable. He’s honestly one of the best puck players I’ve ever played with.”

    After Colorado had bottled up Ottawa for nearly 50 minutes, the Senators scored twice in 2:08 to even the score at 2-2. Brady Tkachuk had the first one, after a Tyler Kleven shot from the right point went wide. The rebound off the boards behind Justus Annunen came right to Tkachuk at the left post for a tap-in with 10:45 left in the third.

    Ottawa kept pushing and found another similar goal with 8:37 left. Nick Cousins put home the rebound of a shot from the left point after getting position on Colton near the right post.

    Annunen ended up allowing four goals in the final 11 minutes after yielding just four in his previous 11 periods combined, but the shorthanded Avs remain in “two points, anyway possible” mode.

    “I would say it was one of those games where we found a way,” O’Connor said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it was how we wanted to win, but we’ll take those ones any day of the week.”

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    Corey Masisak

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  • Avalanche have issues to sort out, regardless of who is missing from the lineup

    Avalanche have issues to sort out, regardless of who is missing from the lineup

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    No team in the NHL is going to win much when five of the top nine or 10 players on the roster are not available.

    For the Colorado Avalanche, that’s just the state of things right now. But the issues for the Avs during an 0-3 start, particularly in an ugly 6-2 loss Monday night to the New York Islanders, go beyond just missing some very good players.

    It’s a pretty simple message: Focus on the process and clean up the areas that the healthy players can control.

    “I think we recognize what we have to improve on,” Avs forward Logan O’Connor said. “We played good enough in games one and two to sort of try and replicate that. Then, for whatever reason, we deviated from our entire game plan and you saw the result (against the Islanders). It wasn’t pretty for us. 

    “We know the aspects of the game that we have to focus on.”

    Most of those aspects involve the part of the game where Colorado does not have the puck. It’s still an incredibly small sample size, but the volume of what the Avs are yielding to the other team has not been the issue.

    It’s the quality. The Avs entered their game Wednesday night against Boston ranked 10th in the NHL in scoring chances against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, and in the top five in shot attempts allowed per 60.

    High-danger scoring chances are another matter — Colorado is 19th. Given the troubles the goaltenders have had, and the missing players, the margin for error is very slim. Allowing too many Grade-A chances is a recipe for disaster, as the Avalanche has found out.

    “Defensively, we’re giving up too many rush chances, too soft in front of our net,” O’Connor said. “I think it’s just stick to the habits that have given us success in the past, the execution and the competitiveness. That’s an area we probably lacked in last was our competitive urgency, especially in the defensive zone.

    “Giving guys too much time and space, not playing hard enough at our net front — I think those are areas that if we clean those areas up within our structure, we should be able to have success. We have been pretty good offensively with generating chances, but we’re giving up way too much.”

    The Avalanche began this season without Gabe Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen, three forwards who are all dynamic offensive players. Colorado lost Jonathan Drouin after the first game, and defenseman Devon Toews is set to miss his second straight contest against the Bruins.

    While those are all strong offensive players, the Avs have not felt their absence with the puck nearly as much as they have without it. All of the offensive numbers, traditional or advanced, have been strong.

    But those four forwards are also all strong two-way players. They make a significant impact without the puck as well. That’s the part of their games that Colorado appears to be missing the most so far this season.

    “They’re very trusted, highly reliable, good-to-great defensive players,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “But, the message is … realistically, checking and playing away from the puck — yeah, there’s skill and ability involved in that, but it’s hard work and commitment. Those are two (things) that we keep bringing up. 

    Bednar thought Toews could be a possibility to play Wednesday night, but he remains out with a lower-body injury. There isn’t a timeline for any of the four forwards right now, though Lehkonen could return early next month if the checkup on his surgically repaired shoulder at the end of this month goes well. Nichushkin can’t return until mid-November at the earliest, but he’ll likely need time after being reinstated to get up to game speed.

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    Corey Masisak

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  • Renck: Avs need Jared Bednar to be their “Bedrock” this season, firmly reshaping team’s identity

    Renck: Avs need Jared Bednar to be their “Bedrock” this season, firmly reshaping team’s identity

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    Jared Bednar is the Avalanche.

    And suddenly this organization needs him as much as he has needed them.

    Two years is not a long time. But the Stanley Cup parade feels like forever ago. No longer are the Avs entering the season, which starts Wednesday night, as the favorite to win a championship. That honor belongs to the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars. Colorado is a team seeking to maintain a standard of excellence while going through an awkward transition forced by injury (Gabe Landeskog) and absence (Val Nichushkin).

    There was a time when the Avs could not escape the second round of the playoffs, and Bednar was advanced as the reason why. He dispelled that notion with the 2021-22 title run, delivering a 16-4 postseason record.

    But the days of the Avs running on fiber optics against dialup opponents are over. They led the league in goals per game last season, something they are unlikely to repeat with Landeskog (uncertain) and Nichushkin (possibly mid-November) unavailable. They ranked 16th in goals against.

    That number remains more salient than ever, tracing back to the man on the bench. Bednar has guided the Avs to seven consecutive playoff berths and averaged 52 wins over the past three seasons. Some believe an auto-pilot coach could produce these results. I respectfully disagree, and this represents a season for Bednar to drive this point home.

    As a roughneck minor league player, Bednar answered to the nickname “Bedrock.” His plus-minus was horrifying, but revealing. He was the guy who had everyone’s back and never shied away from dropping the gloves.

    He wants to succeed as much as the next coach, and this season he will have to convince the players to buy into his long point of emphasis: defense.

    He has created a strong culture, one that will be tested with the meshing of as many as five young players on the opening roster. It needs to manifest itself in the first few months through goal prevention, not Disney on Ice skating.

    “It is obviously demanding, his style of play. He takes a lot of pride in the defensive game, which is exactly what we have to think about. We have to be pushing toward being really good defensively,” right winger Mikko Rantanen said. “What I have noticed the last couple of years, it’s been more demanding on that side, which is really good because in the playoffs you need to be rock solid defensively to have success.”

    The Avs lost their way at the end of last season, their breakdowns staggering as they were stunning. Throw in the suspension of Nichushkin before the puck dropped in Game 4 against the Dallas Stars last May, and any chance of regaining their traction disappeared.

    The Avs can sit around and cross their fingers until their knuckles are white, hoping everything works out with Landeskog and Nichushkin. Or Bednar can move forward like it will not. This team must operate under the worst-case scenario to avoid another early postseason exit.

    Of course, that means finding more secondary scoring outside of reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Rantanen.

    But this group requires consistent defense to ease the pressure on Alexander Georgiev, a solid goalie, whose slumps call for gulping Tums.

    “It absolutely must be that way to start the year. With those injuries and guys we are missing, it’s going to be critical that we play in the structure of our system and be detail-oriented. Obviously, we generally do that, but we could get away with not doing it before,” right winger Logan O’Connor said. “There’s more emphasis on it. (Bednar) lays out the template for us with video and the numbers to see where we stand. He does a good job of using the analytics and meshing it with the message on what we need to do.”

    Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, left, talks to players Nikolai Kovalenko (51), Ross Colton, third from left, and Colorado Avalanche left wing Miles Wood (28), right, during practice before game five of the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Winnipeg Jets at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Canada on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)

    No conversation about Bednar’s coaching occurs without the word “accountability” surfacing. Bednar cites the word in his press conferences. And players insist it is not hollow. They say he is fair in conversations, but hard on them. It remains tricky when leading an accomplished team, knowing when to hit the gas and when to throttle back. Too much of either creates static that morphs into background noise.

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    Troy Renck

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  • Brandon Duhaime’s journey from Alligator Alley to the Avalanche included integral help from Colorado College’s Kris Mayotte

    Brandon Duhaime’s journey from Alligator Alley to the Avalanche included integral help from Colorado College’s Kris Mayotte

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    Locke Mayotte will be one of the unexpected winners after the Colorado Avalanche’s flurry of moves before the NHL trade deadline earlier this month.

    Brandon Duhaime was one of four new additions to the Avs roster. The importance of his acquisition gained more clarity a few days later when the club announced Logan O’Connor needed season-ending hip surgery.

    Duhaime arrived in Colorado to help bolster the Avalanche’s depth at forward and on the penalty kill. He’s one of those guys who embraces playing one of the more thankless roles on an NHL team.

    How did he evolve into that type of player? Locke’s dad, Kris Mayotte, who is now the head coach at Colorado College, played an integral role in Duhaime’s development when he was an assistant at Providence.

    “I love Dewey,” Kris Mayotte said. “Such a great kid, such a hard worker, very dedicated, doesn’t leave a stone unturned in terms of him trying to become the best player he can become.

    “I was so excited to see that he got traded to Colorado. I sent him a text right away. I have a 2-year-old and I was like, ‘I can’t wait to get him a Duhaime jersey.’ We’re so excited that he’s here.”

    Duhaime grew up in Parkland, Fla., near the Florida Panthers’ practice facility. He played on a youth team with Ottawa’s Jakob Chychrun and Boston’s Andrew Peeke. As they got older and sought better competition, Duhaime and Chychrun played for the Junior Everblades in Estero, Fla., which meant a nearly 150-mile commute across Alligator Alley every weekend.

    Eventually, Duhaime moved to British Columbia and began a journey that included two years at a B.C. prep school, one year in the BCHL and one year split between two teams in the USHL. Originally committed to Brown, Duhaime re-opened his recruitment, and that’s where Mayotte comes in.

    Duhaime had interest from Boston College and Michigan, but ultimately chose Providence over the University of Denver.

    “(Mayotte) was huge in the recruiting process,” Duhaime said. “He was calling me all the time. When I got to Providence, he did the exact thing he said he was going to do. He helped develop me into the player I am. A huge shout out to those guys for kind of taking care of me and doing the right things for me.”

    The pitch that helped lead him to Rhode Island centered around Duhaime’s style of play and what type of player he wanted to, or needed to become. Duhaime was a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild, but the chances of him developing into a frontline player at the highest level were slim.

    The raw materials to mold a high-level role player were there, though. Duhaime has good size and above-average skating ability. But not every player who is always one of the best on every team he plays on as a kid can make that transition.

    “He was always a sponge,” Mayotte said. “Wanted to watch the video, wanted any tip that you could possibly give him, whether it was diet, whether it was skills, whether it didn’t matter — he wanted it.

    “A big part of what we were able to do was build that belief that you don’t have to be Macklin Celebrini or Connor McDavid to play in the NHL. They need guys that can kill penalties and be F1 on the forecheck and do those hard things. If you can become one of the best in the world at that, you get to play in the NHL. So it’s developing the skills that are required to play at this level, but also building in an understanding of what it means to find a role, embrace a role and excel at it.”

    Duhaime thrived at Providence, helping the Friars to back-to-back berths in the Frozen Four. He signed with the Wild after his junior season and put in two more years of development time in the AHL.

    This is his third season in the NHL, and it didn’t take long for Duhaime to become a fan favorite in the Twin Cities. The guy on the Avs whose style might resemble his the best is Miles Wood — big, fast and enjoys creating high-speed collisions with players in different-colored jerseys.

    Duhaime had to play his old mates in his first game with the Avalanche, which is always a weird day but especially so when it happens so soon. Since then, it’s been a pretty seamless transition.

    He’s made the penalty kill deeper. He’s helped make the fastest team in the league look even faster. And both he and Yakov Trenin look like the type of additions that pay big dividends when the games really start to matter in late April and beyond.

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    Corey Masisak

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  • Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor to have season-ending hip surgery

    Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor to have season-ending hip surgery

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    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.

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    Corey Masisak

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