avalanche news
Logan O’Connor Signs Six-Year Extension With The Avalanche
DENVER — Logan O’Connor is here to stay.
The Avalanche announced on Monday that O’Connor has signed a six-year contract extension. The deal, which will keep the veteran forward in Colorado through the 2030-31 season is worth a reported $2.5 million per season according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.
“He is a relentless worker and competitor who brings energy and grit to the lineup every night,” general manager Chris MacFarland said of O’Connor, who won the Stanley Cup with the Avs in 2022. “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.”
O’Connor is entering the final season of a three-year deal paying him $1.05 million per season. He signed that deal three years ago on Sunday and will play out the final year of that contract in 2024-25.
The 28-year-old is coming off a career year, albeit it ended early with a season-ending injury last March. O’Connor had 13 goals and 25 points in 57 games, which included his first career hat trick in a road game against the Philadelphia Flyers. He is fully healthy and ready to go for the 2024-25 season.
The Avs initially signed O’Connor as an undrafted free agent in the summer of 2018. He was entering his senior year at DU and was just named the Pioneers captain. O’Connor appeared in just five games for Colorado the following season but eventually worked his way into a full-time role among the bottom six.
During the Cup-winning postseason, O’Connor was stapled to veterans Darren Helm and Andrew Cogliano in what became a crucial fourth line for the Avs’ quest to the Stanley Cup.
It’s not even a question that the Avalanche seriously missed O’Connor late last season after his injury was announced. He had spent the majority of the season building chemistry on a line with newcomers Ross Colton and Miles Wood and his absence was noticeable.
Throughout camp, the trio was been reunited on most days and will likely play together quite a bit this season when the missing offensive pieces in the top six start to make their return. O’Connor is also an early candidate to get top-six minutes while awaiting the returns of Gabrie Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen.
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Hells yeah!
Congrats to LOC, glad he’s going to be around for the long haul.
Wow they got LOC for a steal.
Now they can work on rantenen and drouin
I literally posted something the other day about how the Avs should be looking to extend LOC now before he puts up 35 – 40 pts & tests the market & gets a Trenin like overpay from someone. And I threw out exactly 2.5 per as the #. To whomever that was who replied to that comment by stating he isn’t worth that (think his name was 505 hockey?). I’d like an apology lol. He’s too valuable, young & inexpensive relatively speaking to not lock up. Love this move & with the cap going up each year for the foreseeable… Read more »
Good deal for both the Avs and LOC. Glad he’ll be around and hopefully he stays healthy. I wonder if it’s worth trying to keep the 20s line together as the third line and try to fit others into the top 6 rather than use break up the 20s line to fill in.
Well earned!! Glad to see OC here for the long run.
That is great news! Love what LOC brings to the team.
Huuuuuuge signing for the Avs. Great deal for an important player. LOC got term with that deal and the avs won’t be paying him much. I wish the best for that r20s line. Great news 💪
Exact same contract they gave Miles Wood. Glad to see him locked up at a workable number
I’ve been enjoying your writing Aarif, other than it sounds like you might be a Dead Things fan. While it seems like a lot of money and term for LOC, I’ve always thought he’s the kind of guy that you want to keep around the locker room. He has a very tenacious style of play and was my favorite player when he was at DU since his level of energy is so much fun to watch.
Thanks, Bob! Can confirm, I was not a Red Wings fan growing up haha. You should check out my introductory story, it was just published! I was born in Canada and grew up in Detroit but I was an Avs fan.
I’m maybe in the minority, but I am cool with him for this year and maybe another year, not sure I love committing to him for another 4 years like we did. He has a history of getting injured and runs hot and cold in my mind. Speaks more about how terrible our prospect pool is than anything else.