Bottom-six players aren’t always going to hit as much as others. A lot of them will be guys who see very minimal minutes—especially on the fourth line—per night. However, in the case of Avalanche forward Parker Kelly, sometimes all they really need is a bigger opportunity.
Kelly had a tremendous 2025-26 season. It was, in fact, the best season of his career. The Avalanche saw something in Kelly early on, and signed him to an extension in July of 2025. He followed that up by putting in a full 82-game season with 21 goals and 14 assists. He’s a guy who can play either center or on the wing, which ups his value tremendously
While playing a full season isn’t unheard of, doing so as a bottom-line player is remarkable. Teams sometimes switch those guys in and out of the lineup depending on matchups and Kelly forced head coach Jared Bednar to keep him in.
Kelly still had a year remaining on his previous contract, so, in reality, the Avalanche did a somewhat risky thing that paid off. They could have waited, but with the type of year that Kelly had, he would have earned more than the $1.7 AAV over four years that he signed the extension for. That’s a lucky break for Colorado.
To put his 35-point season into perspective, Kelly had never eclipsed nine goals in a season before. His previous career-high was eight goals, which he accomplished in his first year with the Avalanche and his final year with the Ottawa Senators.
Kelly showed a ton of skill in multiple areas. He was obviously successful in the scoring department. He was also wildly successful in hits (177) and blocked shots (58).
Kelly also killed off penalties, helping the Avalanche be one of the best teams in the league in that category for the 2025-26 season. Those are the types of things fourth-line players have to do. The scoring is an added bonus, and for Kelly, it was a huge one. It’s hard to ask more of a guy who performed as well as he did.
Now, Kelly will look to have an even better season in 2026-27. With great play will come more trust from Bednar, something that any player would love to have. He’s worked his tail off, and he’ll continue to do so.
Going from a depth forward to an every-game grinder is so impressive for a guy who was once a situational player. We look forward to seeing a ton more of Kelly in the future. The Avs have a good one.
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