Penguins’ Drew O’Connor recovering from collapsed lung; Ducks/Hawks GM search; Sens UFAs in demand

When Pittsburgh Penguins forward Drew O’Connor exited Jan. 15’s game in San Jose with what was initially reported as an undisclosed injury, there didn’t seem to be much reason for concern.

However, when in the following days it surfaced that O’Connor’s “undisclosed injury” had actually been a collapsed lung, that concern increased.

During the "Ice Breakers" segment on Thursday’s episode of "The Daily Faceoff Show," Frank Seravalli reported on how trying the past 10 days has truly been for O’Connor.

Seravalli: “If you notice, he only played 5:36 in that game in San Jose. Got to Vegas, during the game had trouble breathing. Got to Vegas and got treatment. They discovered the collapsed lung – got him all the treatment he needed.

“I think what’s really interesting about the scenario and had some people initially worried is, Drew O’Connor entered the COVID-19 protocol on Jan. 4. The initial concern right away was, is this injury, this collapsed lung, at all related to COVID?

“The answers from all doctors to this point has been: ‘no.’ That this is just a total separate occurrence. Sometimes these injuries happen that can be as a result of a hit. Nobody’s sure exactly how or why.

“But it’s sort of been a long road back for Drew O’Connor in the last couple weeks. He had to be driven from Vegas, all the way back to Pittsburgh, a two-day ordeal.

“The Penguins are hoping that he can begin skating here in the next couple days, and be back in the lineup in the next few weeks.”

During Ice Breakers, Seravalli also provided an update on the ongoing general manager searches of the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks. He also touched on how many of the Ottawa Senators’ pending unrestricted free agents have been generating interest from around the NHL.

Seravalli: “So things are actually picking up quite a bit in both Anaheim and now Chicago. The two things that tie these teams together. It’s been a methodical process since Bob Murray and Stan Bowman both resigned for two separate incidents and scandals that cost them their jobs. And in this case, both of these organizations were going and saying: ‘Hey, should we institute a President of Hockey Ops position and then hire a general manager.’

“What they both determined is, it’s going to be one all-encompassing position in the general manager role that oversees everything in hockey operations.

“Things have picked up quite a bit on the Anaheim front, which had been moving very slowly. I’m told that two weeks ago, the Ducks had interviewed all of their their internal candidates for the position, including interim Jeff Solomon, as well as Martin Madden and Dave Nonis, their two assistant GMs.

“Here’s where it gets interesting. The Ducks have interviewed, I am told, between five and six external candidates in the last week alone. There are more names on their list. I believe as many as 10 or 12 that they want to get to. I’m still sorting out the names.

“The Blackhawks and their CEO Danny Wirtz mentioned in a release on Wednesday that they are beginning a process to search for their next general manager. I’m told that the time frame for the Blackhawks is they hope to have someone in the next two to three weeks. Kyle Davidson, their interim, will be a strong candidate. But it’s anyone’s guess at this point as to where the Blackhawks go.”

As it relates to the Senators’ pending UFAs:

Seravalli: “There’s a couple that I think they’re interested in re-signing.

“One we talked about previously this week in our Blue Paint segment and that would be Anton Forsberg. The Sens have been thrilled with what they’ve seen from Forsberg. His name has popped up in conversations among other teams that are looking for netminders. The Sens would consider re-signing him.

“The other one is Nick Paul. I think there’s been considerable interest in Nick Paul, as well, up front. Teams love his work ethic and what he brings to the ice.

“Both of those players on inexpensive, pending UFA deals.”

You can watch the full episode of The Daily Faceoff Show here…