diff --git a/apps/ofagent/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ofagent/impl/OFConnectionHandler.java b/apps/ofagent/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ofagent/impl/OFConnectionHandler.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..27a6bc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/ofagent/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ofagent/impl/OFConnectionHandler.java
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2017-present Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.ofagent.impl;
+
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelFuture;
+import io.netty.channel.ChannelFutureListener;
+import io.netty.channel.nio.NioEventLoopGroup;
+import org.onosproject.ofagent.api.OFController;
+import org.onosproject.ofagent.api.OFSwitch;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+
+/**
+ * Implementation of OpenFlow connection handler.
+ * It retries a connection for a certain amount of time and then give up.
+ */
+public final class OFConnectionHandler implements ChannelFutureListener {
+
+    private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
+
+    private static final int MAX_RETRY = 10;
+
+    private final AtomicInteger retryCount = new AtomicInteger();
+    private final OFSwitch ofSwitch;
+    private final OFController controller;
+    private final NioEventLoopGroup workGroup;
+
+    /**
+     * Default constructor.
+     *
+     * @param ofSwitch   openflow switch that initiates this connection
+     * @param controller controller to connect
+     * @param workGroup  work group for connection
+     */
+    public OFConnectionHandler(OFSwitch ofSwitch, OFController controller,
+                               NioEventLoopGroup workGroup) {
+        this.ofSwitch = ofSwitch;
+        this.controller = controller;
+        this.workGroup = workGroup;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a connection to the supplied controller.
+     */
+    public void connect() {
+        // TODO initiates a connection to the controller
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void operationComplete(ChannelFuture future) throws Exception {
+
+        if (future.isSuccess()) {
+            log.debug("{} is connected to controller {}", ofSwitch.device().id(), controller);
+            // TODO do something for a new connection if there's any
+        } else {
+            log.debug("{} failed to connect {}, retry..", ofSwitch.device().id(), controller);
+            // TODO retry connect if retry count is less than MAX
+        }
+    }
+}