Parker Kelly, a 17-year-old center from the Colorado Avalanche, is making up for his lack of goal-scoring in the playoffs with his strong performance defensively and on the penalty kill. His consistent and reliable contributions have helped the Avalanche stay in the series against the Minnesota Wild. Despite his scoring slump, Kelly remains humble and looks forward to finding his way back on the scoreboard.
Center Parker Kelly of the Colorado Avalanche reacts to a goal on goaltender Jesper Wallstedt of the Minnesota Wild by center Nazem Kadri during the third period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — There are three players on the Colorado Avalanche, the highest-scoring team in the league, who scored more goals than Parker Kelly this season. It was a dream year for Kelly, who scored seven, one, eight and eight goals in his first four NHL seasons. He blew by career-best numbers, resetting his personal bar with 21 goals and 35 points despite playing fewer than 13 minutes per game.
Six games into this postseason run, Kelly does not have a goal or a point. But, there are no alarm bells going off. No awkward scrums with the media grilling him about a slump Saturday morning ahead of Game 3 of this second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series“It’s a weird thing,” Kelly said.
“Like, you want to help out the guys on the score sheet. But I’ve said this before, I wasn’t most proud of the number of goals I had this year. I was just proud of being consistent and being good at both ends of the ice. I mean with playoffs, you start thinking more after a couple games, but I’ve been happy with what I’ve done defensively, on the kill has been really great.
There’s so much more to my game than scoring. ” Center Parker Kelly of the Colorado Avalanche tries to put defenseman Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild into the boards during the first period of Game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. Kelly and Logan O’Connor flank Jack Drury on Colorado’s fourth line.
They are Jared Bednar’s “identity line” and scoring goals is not at the top of the list of their objectives. They will chip in — O’Connor had a big one against Los Angeles, Drury had a nifty one in Game 1 against Minnesota — but their priorities start with strong defense, strong forechecking and energy. Their job is to tilt the ice in Colorado’s direction. Goals are a bonus.
A perfect shift for them starts in the defensive zone and ends with an offensive zone faceoff they’ll never see. Get the puck to that end of the ice, and force the goalie to cover it up or, even better, an opposing player to ice it.
Then they head for the bench, one of the scoring lines comes out to try and capitalize on what they started.
“I think in general, he’s not a guy that equates goal scoring to playing well,” O’Connor said. “I think there’s plenty more intangibles that signify if he’s playing well. It’s hard on pucks, finishing checks, getting in the dirty areas, creating momentum for the other lines, being good defensively, being good on the penalty kill. I think those are all things he’s done a great job of.
Hasn’t had a chance to capitalize on his opportunities yet, but as long as you’re getting them, you can’t really be too particular this time of year. Five-on-five goal scoring is so hard to come by right now. And I think if our line continues to build things the way we have been here, we’ll find the back of the net soon. ” Kelly found his way in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators.
It took until his third season to become an everyday guy, and the Senators decided not to tender him a qualifying offer in June 2024, so he went from being a pending restricted free agent to unrestricted. Kelly was one of the best bargains in hockey this year, scoring 21 goals despite making just $825,000. Even with his raise to $1.7 million per season that kicks in next year, Kelly is on a cap-friendly deal.
“We have so many guys on our team that can score. I have zero pressure,” Kelly said.
“Obviously I love to score, but realistically, like if I went the whole playoffs with zero goals, I think I would still be proud of my defensive game. I feel like I’ve had chances to score and hopefully one of them will soon. But I’m not putting pressure on myself to, like ‘I need it. I need it.
’ anyway. There’s just always been more to my game than goals and assists. ” Kelly and Drury are staples on the league’s best penalty kill. The Avs have allowed one 4-on-5 goal in this postseason,Avalanche star Cale Makar’s consistency has helped define his greatnessScott Wedgewood rewards Avalanche for patience, while Wild in goalie disarray after going down 2-0 That line is swarming the Wild with forechecking pressure.
Minnesota’s role players were a big story of the Wild’s opening-round win against Dallas. They’ve been chasing guys like Kelly and O’Connor around in this series and not having the same physical impact.
“I think that’s the smart way to play,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “He wasn’t pressing in the regular season and he scored 20, but he just plays to his identity. I think that’s what mature, experienced players do. They know what makes them successful, what their baseline of play is, what they have to do on a nightly basis and what they’re relied upon to do for the team that they’re playing on.
Then they expand it from there.
“Checkers, it’s not like they don’t want to score. They’re just focused on what they need to do to be successful. … He went through a phase and a season, really, where he was able to consistently chip in. But the main priority goes back to his identity and the role that he plays on our team.
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