Logan O’Connor healthy for Avalanche training camp after hip surgery

CASTLE PINES — Logan O’Connor is healthy and “feeling great” for the start of Avalanche training camp after fully recovering from hip surgery.

The 28-year-old forward joined teammates at The Ridge at Castle Pines North on Monday for Colorado's annual charity golf event. Avs training camp begins Thursday at Family Sports in Centennial.

“I’ll be good to go,” O’Connor said. “I’ve been skating normal for about a month now. Over the course of the summer, I just slowly dialed it up a bit week to week. I’ve been feeling great for a while now.”

O’Connor was on pace for his best NHL season through 57 games played last year. He found instant chemistry with new linemates Ross Colton and Miles Wood. O’Connor’s 13 goals marked a personal best over six seasons with the Avalanche.

It all came to a halt in early March. The Avs announced he required season-ending hip surgery and would miss the playoffs.

“I’ve actually had the torn labrum side of it for six years, which a lot of hockey guys would have (as well). For whatever reason, come November, it just became symptomatic,” O’Connor said. “It was something I was managing along the way. The pain I could always sort of manage and get through. ... It ended up becoming a weakness that sort of inhibited my ability to skate and play my game. Then I’m overthinking and you feel like you’re playing from behind a bit.

“That’s when I had to make the decision to get it done.”

The surgery is common among NHL players, O’Connor said, as teammates Valeri Nichushkin and Wood previously had the same procedure. The first few weeks were mostly “mobilizing and icing” before O’Connor returned to skating in June.

His biggest frustration? A promising season cut short by injury.

“A lot of things came together last year for me,” O’Connor said. “I feel as though some years, mentally, it can become a bit of a grind as the season goes on. Whereas, for me last year, I felt super fresh mentally the whole year. ... You slowly learn more and more nuances within the game and areas that give you personal success.”

The Avalanche will need depth contributions from O’Connor and others, especially to begin the season.

Captain Gabe Landeskog is trending toward a return but with still no specific timeline from his knee cartilage transplant. Forward Artturi Lehkonen will not be a full participant to start training camp with a shoulder injury, the team confirmed Monday. Nichushkin is under NHL suspension until at least November.

“It’s just an emphasis on the details, the structure and the defensive side of the game,” O’Connor said. “I think losing some of the firepower that we’re going to be missing ... it gives an opportunity for a lot of guys to fill the hole there. It’s not one player. It’s going to have to be a collective group, team effort, because we’re missing those bodies.”