Although this season has been disappointing for the New York Islanders, multiple players on the team have elevated their game to new levels. One player who has raised their level of play this season is Long Island native Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri’s strong play this season rivals his point production levels to his New Jersey Devils days, arguably the best years of his career. However, when analyzing Kyle Palmieri’s overall time with the New York Islanders, his play has been slightly underwhelming.

The Islanders acquired Palmieri from the New Jersey Devils right before the 2021 trade deadline. The Devils sent Palmieri and Travis Zajac to the Islanders in exchange for A.J. Greer, Mason Jobst, a 2021 first-round draft pick, and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.

After joining the Islanders in April 2021, Palmieiri’s initial impact with the team was minimal. In 17 regular season games with the Islanders, Palmieri put up a minuscule four points. However, Palmieri gave the Islanders scoring, depth, and a solid veteran presence in the 2021 postseason. In the 2021 postseason, the Islanders ultimately succumbed to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. However, Palmieri’s playoff impact was crucial to the Islanders’ success that spring.The Long Island native put up a career-high seven goals and nine points in 19 playoff games.

The following offseason, Palmieri signed a four-year, $20 million deal with the New York Islanders to keep him on Long Island for the considerable future.

Palmieri’s time with the Islanders, for the most part, has been underwhelming. Throughout Palmieri’s NHL career, he has established himself as a dependable goal scorer. In the 10 seasons leading up to the 2021 season, Palmieri scored twenty-plus goals in five seasons, twenty-five plus goals in a season four times, and hit the thirty-goal mark once. The 2021 season, in which Palmieri split time between the New Jersey Devils and Islanders, along with the 2021-22 season and the 2022-23 season, all have been disappointing for the Islanders’ winger. Although Palmieri did have injuries and has not played an entire 82-game season since 2015-16 nor the full 56-game season in 2021, his production levels have still been disappointing. In the 2021, 2021-22, and 2022-23 seasons, Palmieri failed to hit the 20-goal mark. His 33 points in both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons were his lowest point totals since the 2014-15 season.

Throughout this season, Palmieri has improved his point production. Thus far, he has 23 goals and 42 points. The 2023-2024 season is the first time since the 2019-20 season that Palmieri has scored 20 goals and 40 points in a season.

With this season being the exception, Palmieri’s regular season offensive production, for the most part, has been underwhelming. Despite mediocre seasonal play, Palmieri has significantly contributed to the Islanders’ offense during the team’s playoff appearances. As mentioned before, Palmieri was a considerable asset to the Islanders in their 2021 postseason run, being one game shy of the Stanley Cup Finals. Last season, in the Islanders’ first-round matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, Palmieri recorded five points, a game-winning goal, and 14 shots on net in just six games. Palmieri’s past playoff impact has been felt. He has also given the Islanders a boost this season with his increased goals and point production.

Although Palmieri’s playoff impact has been felt, and he has given the Islanders a boost this season with increased goals and point production, his time with the orange and blue has not matched that of other players of similar age and contractual status in terms of overall performance.

At a cap hit of $5,000,000 per season, Palmieri is underperforming other NHL players of similar age with the same cap hit. From the 2021 season onward, Palmieri has 64 goals and 129 points.

Jonathan Marchessault on the Vegas Golden Knights, who is also 33 years old, has a six-year $30 million deal with the same cap hit as Palmieri. However, from the 2021 season onward, Marchessault has 115 goals and 229 points. Former New York Islanders forward Ryan Strome, who is now on the Anaheim Ducks, is 30 years old and has a cap hit of $5,000,000 per season. Since the 2021 season, Strome has scored 61 goals and 180 points. 32-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins forward Reilly Smith, who will be 33 years old on April 1st, also has a cap hit of $5,000,000 per season. From the 2021 season onward, Smith has 68 goals and 153 points. While, for the most part, Palmieri’s goals are on par with other similarly aged forwards on similar contracts, his point production is sub-par.

At 33 years old, Palmieri is unlikely to continue his 2023-24-point pace into the rest of his thirties. It may make sense for the Islanders to move the Long Island native in the offseason to a Stanley Cup-contending team looking to add a veteran goal scorer to their group in exchange for draft picks. There is no doubt about the quality of Palmieri’s offensive production as he contributes in big moments, but the quality could be better.

Featured image courtesy of AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Ethan Halle

Ethan is an Economics Major at the University of Florida looking to pursue a double major in Sports Management with a minor in political science.