CENTENNIAL — Avalanche forward Parker Kelly has been asked the same question at training camp so many times he’s probably sick of hearing it.
Can you do it again?
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“It” is scoring 20 goals. Kelly has established himself as a good bottom-six forward in the NHL, enough so that the Avalanche were eager to lock him up to a four-year, $6.8 million deal 364 days before his contract was set to expire. Good thing they didn’t wait.
Kelly went off last season, scoring a career-high 21 goals and 35 points while mostly playing the wing. Like any player looking to improve he went back and watched what worked last season, which included reviewing all 21 goals he scored. He believes the way he scored those goals is repeatable.
Except for maybe one.
“The Utah (goal) is maybe one-out-of-100 for a guy like me,” Kelly told The Denver Gazette.
Colorado Avalanche center Parker Kelly (17) skates against the Washington Capitals during the first period Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
The Utah goal to which he refers happened in the first game after the Olympics break. Kelly took a pass in his own end and marched up the ice. After entering the offensive zone, he made a nifty play to flip the puck over veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt’s stick to get to the middle. Surrounded by four Mammoth players, Kelly stickhandled with very little room to maneuver and ripped a quick, far-side wrist shot on Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka for his 13th goal of the season.
That’s the type of goal you might not see from Kelly again. Those other goals? He doesn’t see any reason why he can’t do that again.
“I watched all my stuff from last year and it looked like I could replicate that,” Kelly said. “It’s nothing out of the ordinary, just a simple recipe … low (to) high, get to the net, try to tip a puck. … If you can win your battles and win a forecheck, go low to high, beat a guy to the net, then I don’t see why not. Get a good stick on it, get a tip.
“We’ve got world-class (defensemen) here that, to the public eye, might just look like they’re sniffing one, but they’re putting it in a good area for me to tip it.
“It’s all a pretty simple recipe to try and replicate.”
Kelly is not alone in believing that production is repeatable. Last season, Kelly told The Denver Gazette how much Nathan MacKinnon helped him with advice on and off the ice. The Avalanche superstar, along with their head coach, thinks another 20-goal season is possible.
“I think so,” MacKinnon said. “He goes to the right areas and (is) a great deflector.”
Colorado Avalanche center Parker Kelly (17) fights Dallas Stars defenseman Tyler Myers (57) for the puck in front of Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) during the third period Wednesday, March 18, 2026, at Ball Arena in Denver. The Stars won 2-1 after a shootout. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
“I don’t see why there’s a reason why he can’t repeat what he did last season,” Jared Bednar said. “Extremely hard worker, competitive as heck, he’s got a good shot, thinks the game. … I think creating the chances, that pace can continue. Then it’s just a matter of what kind of goaltending we see and how he’s able to finish off some of those chances. To me, he’s a guy that he can always be kind of pushing for that number.”
Goaltending and a bit of luck played a role in Kelly’s production last season. His 20.2% shooting would seem to be unsustainable when you consider his shooting percentage at the NHL level coming into last season was 8.5%. When your scoring chances come around the net, your shooting percentage will naturally be higher because you’re shooting from a high-danger zone. And Kelly spent a lot of time in and around the net.
Fourteen of his 21 goals came in and around the net, which gives you a greater chance to score. If Kelly continues that, he’ll have a chance to repeat last season’s production.
But even if Kelly never scores 20 goals again, he’ll still bring plenty of value to the Avalanche. You know what you’ll get from him on a nightly basis.
During Monday’s preseason game in Winnipeg, a meaningless game where someone like Kelly has nothing to prove, he gave it his all. During a first-period penalty kill, Kelly threw his body in front of multiple shots from Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey, breaking his stick in the process. That’s the type of fearless play the Avalanche will get from the Calgary native regardless of how many pucks he puts in the back of the net.
“I could score three goals this year and in my heart know I’m still doing the right things,” Kelly said. “You want to try and replicate it as much as possible, but I’m not putting pressure on myself to make that a yearly occurrence. I’m just going to try my best to be consistent like last year. That was really what I was most proud of, just every night feeling good about my game.”
Now in his third full season with the Avalanche, Kelly has taken on a bit more of a leadership role in the locker room. He wore an “A” on his jersey in that Winnipeg game and has spent a lot of time at camp on a line with Zachary L’Heureux, one of the new faces on the team.
At 27, Kelly is still one of the youngest players on the roster, but he’s trying to pass down some of the things he learned when he arrived in Colorado.
“You want to just be a sounding board for them just to try to make it feel comfortable,” Kelly said. “It kind of feels like my first year (with) how good (O’Connor) was with me, just reiterating that’s the standard, that’s a great night, or this is exactly what we’re not doing that’s not making us successful. You can keep it pretty black and white.”
Notes from practice
Nicolas Roy replaced Nazem Kadri on the top power-play unit at practice Wednesday. Roy sat in the “bumper” spot in the middle of the ice while MacKinnon moved to the right wall. That setup gives Gabriel Landeskog more opportunity to hang around the net, where he’s at his best. After last season, the Avalanche should try anything to get the power play going.
Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood will start the final two preseason games and will go the full 60 minutes in their respective starts.