Parker Kelly

According to a team announcement, the Colorado Avalanche have signed depth forward Parker Kelly to a four-year contract. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that it’ll be a $6.8MM deal for Kelly with an AAV of $1.7MM.

There’s no questioning the length of Kelly’s new contract, given he played last season on a one-year, $825K agreement with Colorado. Still, due to several injuries throughout the season in Denver, Kelly received a larger opportunity than expected with the Avalanche.

He spent much of his time on the team’s fourth line, but snuck into the third line when needed. He wasn’t the best fill-in option at center, given his 43.0% success rate in the faceoff dot with over 700 opportunities. Still, he provided quality scoring in his role, putting up eight goals and 19 points in 80 contests.

Despite the lack of success down the middle, he was a net positive toward the bottom of Colorado’s forward core. He managed a 51.5% CorsiFor% at even strength, the highest mark of his career, and a 91.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength, also being the highest of his career.

He made well on his tryout with the Avalanche, and the team rewarded him by making him a mainstay in their bottom-six for the next several years. Still, the team has several other additions to make this summer if they want to put together a complete and sustainable fourth line.

The Avalanche have signed depth forward Parker Kelly to a two-year contract, per a team announcement. The deal is worth $1.65MM ($825K AAV), Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports.

Kelly, 25, became a UFA today after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Senators. Ottawa is where he’d spent the first seven years of his career after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2017, slowly developing into an NHL regular over that time. Last season, he played in a career-high 80 games, notching eight goals and 18 points while proving himself as serviceable bottom-six depth.

A winger by trade, Kelly averaged 11:42 per game this year and put up passable possession numbers for his fourth-line minutes. The 6’0″, 190-lb forward lays the body well, recording over 170 hits in each of his last two seasons.

He’ll fit right into Colorado as a cheaper replacement for Brandon Duhaime, who signed a seven-figure AAV deal with the Capitals earlier today. And, solely based on last season’s results, he’s an upgrade both offensively and defensively. Kelly has a strong shot to begin the season on the Avs’ fourth line and will compete for playing time with players like rookie Nikolai Kovalenko and veterans Joel Kiviranta and Chris Wagner, the former of whom was brought back on a one-year deal today.

For less than a $1MM cap hit, it’s a tad puzzling why the Sens opted not to qualify him and retain his rights, especially when they signed his likely replacement, Noah Gregor, for $25K more against the cap. Kelly will happily take his services to Denver, where he provides the Avs with some much-needed cost-effective depth and gets a bit of security in the process with a two-year term. He’ll be a UFA upon expiry in 2026.