Colorado Avalanche announce important forward undergoing season ending surgery

While it's usually players like Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen who get all the credit. It's the depth players like O'Connor who have really allowed the team to be successful. This season especially O'Connor has taken a huge step forward and adopted the right mentality to be successful in the NHL and the results have shown accordingly.

In 57 games this season O'Connor has 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points. What makes us even more impressive is that O'Connor starts nearly 73% of his shifts in his defensive zone. O'Connor has also taken on a major role on the team's penalty kill.

Today however, head coach Jared Bednar made the announcement that O'Connor's season was over.

According to Bednar, O'Connor has been banged up for awhile, but finally gave in and agreed to surgery. Bednar was also asked about the health and a possible return of Gabriel Landeskog.

So while many people expected the Avalanche to follow the Golden Knights and utilize the LTIR loophole, it appears that is not the case with the team's captain. It would require the Avalanche to make it to at least the second round before. There would be any consideration for Landeskog to be eligible to return.

The Avalanche were able to add multiple pieces of the deadline and it looks like that was a good decision as the team's depth could be tested in the coming weeks.