What will the Avalanche do when Logan O'Connor returns to the lineup?

The Colorado Avalanche are leading the league with a 10-1-5 record. Last season, the Avs‘ record through 16 games was 8-8-0. Of course, there are two major differences between the two seasons: goaltending and injuries. The front office took care of the goalie problem last year. As far as injuries go, the Avalanche have been fairly healthy this year, with only Samuel Girard, Logan O'Connor, Joel Kiviranta and Mackenzie Blackwood having missed significant time.

Blackwood returned to the Avalanche, making his first start against his former club, the San Jose Sharks, on November 1st. Kiviranta is set to be out for a while, as he's on the report as out indefinitely. Girard and O'Connor are both close to returning, with Girard's estimated return date being November 11th against the Anaheim Ducks and O'Connor's being November 13th against the Buffalo Sabres.

While Girard's return is important, the return of O'Connor is more intriguing as the Avalanche have had so much success with the way their bottom-six has played and contributed so far this season. How do the Avs reintroduce the Mayor of Denver without derailing the chemistry this team has built thus far?

Logan O'Connor's return brings new questions to the lineup

In any normal season, the answers would be easy: when O'Connor returns, send Gavin Brindley down to the AHL and move on, right? Well, it hasn't been a normal season. Brindley has 100% earned his place in the lineup and even Logan O'Connor can't take that from him. Brindley's performance against Vancouver on November 9th, where his play propelled Bednar to bust out the line blender and put him on a line with Nathan MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen. It was a move that paid off as Brindley earned himself time during overtime where he netted the game winning goal.

With Brindley off the table, the next logical move is to send Zakhar Bardakov down and play Parker Kelly at center with O'Connor and Brindley. This is probably what will end up happening, though not for any fault of Bardakov, who has continued to play well and improve each game. There's really just not anyone else to take out of the lineup. At least not right now.

What will be interesting to see is if Bednar decides to bring back last year's Jack Drury, Kelly, and O'Connor line. It would probably be hard to justify, but if you slot that in as your fourth line, you could run Ross Colton, Gabriel Landeskog, and Brindley on your third line. The second line would then be Victor Olofsson with Valeri Nichushkin and Brock Nelson. There's a lot that Bednar can do with this lineup.

The Avs‘ new depth

This level of depth hasn't been seen in Denver since the Stanley Cup run in 2022, and even that team doesn't feel as strong as this one. I'm not sure I'm taking Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Nico Sturm, Darren Helm, O'Connor, Andrew Cogliano, and Alex Newhook over O'Connor, Drury, Kelly, Brindley, Bardakov, and Colton (or Landeskog). That depth helped the Avalanche to a championship, and this year’s depth adds a scoring touch that the former lacked.

At full health, the bottom of the roster includes three full lines worth of players. Not many teams can boast that kind of depth. With Bardakov and Brindley answering the call and forcing themselves into the lineup, it's made it easier for head coach Jared Bednar and the coaching staff to manage other parts of the lineup, most notably Landeskog's minutes and role.

Should the Avalanche continue to roll through games while experimenting and refining their lineup, this team could be extremely lethal come playoff time.