Avalanche's Logan O'Connor 'has been a good leader for us,' set to fill spot in leadership core

Colorado has a vacant spot in the leadership core since Andrew Cogliano retired and Logan O'Connor is poised for the position.

With a new six-year deal, Logan O'Connor's status on the Colorado Avalanche has been upgraded. His extended commitment solidified his place and leadership role with the team.

The team's leadership group lost a member when Andrew Cogliano retired. While those skates cannot be filled, O'Connor is the next in line to step up to the plate. 

"It's tough to replace guy. He was very vocal in the locker room and 1,300 games and how many, 200 playoff games?" Mikko Rantanen said. "Can't be replaced totally, but I think guys have to get some voice in our locker room because we're missing Cogs (Cogliano) obviously."

O'Connor is one of the few team veterans in his seventh season with the Avs, which puts him in the position to take on that leadership role. 

"I'm going to try, for sure. I mean I don't have 1,300 games so it's tough to completely replicate that, given his resume but I think missing him, (Darren) Helm, over the last couple years, EJ (Erik Johnson) you know, guys that have been around the league a long time," O"Connor said. "And within the organization, I look around, there's not many guys that have been in the organization longer than me now — there's only five or six. So I think at this point it's sort of on me to take a bit of a bigger role in the leadership and the bottom six, the penalty kill and whatnot, and take a lot of pride in that."

O'Connor's position in the leadership core has been in the making and part of his journey from being a homegrown Av.

"He's a guy that you know, when you look at our team and the way we stress fitness and the off ice training, he's been outstanding at that, getting stronger and faster and becoming a better pro over the years," head coach Jared Bednar said. "And now he gets rewarded with a long term contract. And, yeah, should be an Av for life."

Colorado added a few veteran players to the roster last season and this past offseason but O'Connor's seniority proves valuable for his spot in the leadership group. 

"Logan has been a good leader for us, and he has a say, especially on the penalty kill and in a lot of different situations, a really trusted player," Bednar said.