Palmieri’s Recovery Progress Adds Another Layer To Islanders’ Offseason Decisions
With Kyle Palmieri progressing well from ACL surgery and expected back for training camp, the Islanders suddenly have a crowded wing situation — creating major lineup questions.
Fresh off playing back-to-back 82-game seasons and earning a new two-year extension worth $4.85 million cap hit, New York Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri saw his 2025-26 season come to a halt in Game No. 25 after he tore his ACL on Nov. 28.
I’m told that his rehab is going extremely well, and there’s no reason to think he won’t be ready to go when the team begins training camp.
Here’s some of what Palmieri had to say during his end-of-season presser:
“It’s a significant knee injury and surgery, but guys have gone through it, and I’m confident with the way the first four months have gone. I got a couple more months here of the day-to-day of the rehab stuff, but I think at a certain point it’s just going to be a pretty normal summer for me. Some things will change, some intricacies of the workouts and things like that and but I’m fully expected to have a pretty, pretty normal summer.”
That’s a sure positive for the Islanders, who failed to overcome his absence.
Offensively, I think Palmieri is their best off-the-rush pure sniper, one of their better net-crashing forwards, and severely underrated in the defensive zone.
However, the roster has changed a bit since Palmieri went down.