If you asked Parker Kelly and Erik Brannstrom six months ago if they planned to be playing for a team other than the Ottawa Senators this season, they’d probably have given you the stink eye.
In pro sports, though, plans change quickly.
The 25-year-olds were set to become restricted free agents with the Senators over the summer. All they needed were qualifying offers from Ottawa for the organization to retain their rights.
Those offers never came, clearing the way for both to become unrestricted free agents.
Colorado wasted little time swooping in and snagging both of them.
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Kelly, a rugged forward, signed a two-year contract with the Avalanche on July 1, while Brannstrom, a puck-moving defenseman, inked a one-year deal a day later. Neither planned for it to work out that way, but they’re grateful it did.
“I didn’t really see it coming,” Brannstrom said, on the subject of Ottawa not tendering him a qualifying offer.
Sometimes things happen for a reason, though.
“It was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Brannstrom said. “To come here and play with these players and team will be a great fit for me, and I’m so excited to be here.”
Only a few years ago, Brannstrom was considered one of the top prospects in the NHL. He was the main piece acquired by Ottawa in exchange for star forward Mark Stone, and the Senators saw him as a potential replacement for Erik Karlsson, the Norris Trophy-winning defenseman the organization had traded only months prior.
It didn’t work out that way.
While Brannstrom improved defensively, the top-flight offensive skills he flashed as a teenager never translated to the NHL. After five years in Ottawa, the organization decided to move on. The Avalanche were one of the many teams that reached out to Brannstrom’s camp when he became a free agent. And the Swede decided Colorado was the best fit for him.
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The Avalanche love a good reclamation project, and they’re hoping they hit the jackpot again with the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Brannstrom.
“We’ve had a lot of undersized guys here before that seem to have been able to adapt and get the job done on the defensive side,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I don’t see why he couldn’t.”
When Kelly learned Ottawa was moving on from him, he was just as surprised as Brannstrom. Luckily for him, he was in a place where it’s easy to find a distraction.
“I was actually down in Vegas for the NHLPA meetings, which was kind of a blessing in disguise, I would say,” Kelly said. “If you’re at home, you’re just sitting there looking at your phone, waiting for phone calls. I was going to a Shin Lim magic show just to get my mind off things.”
After taking time to decompress, Kelly’s agent let him know Colorado was interested. At that point, it was an easy decision for the forward to sign with the Avalanche.
“I thought the best fit would be Colorado,” he said. “I was really fortunate to be able to come here. Such a great organization with such great players. I kind of feel lucky to be here.”
While Kelly has 177 NHL games under his belt, they've pretty much all come while playing wing. About a week before training camp opened, Bednar had a chat with Kelly and came up with the idea of Kelly starting at center.
Not a big deal, as Kelly played center in youth hockey, like a lot of NHL players.
Except for one important detail.
“I just haven’t taken face-offs (in the NHL),” he said.
Kelly has been spending extra time after practice working on draws, often getting tips from veteran center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — a crash course, to say the least.
“That’s kind of the main thing I’m trying to learn, because I might have 30 face-offs in my career and some of these guys have 25,000, so it’s going to be a little bit of an adjustment,” he said.
