Kyle Charles Palmieri (; born February 1, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey player who is a forward and alternate captain for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks.
Growing up on Long Island, Palmieri played youth hockey for the Devils-sponsored teams at Codey Arena in West Orange, New Jersey. He attended St. Peter's Preparatory School for two years before earning an opportunity to play for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP). During his time in the program, he tallied 15 goals and 15 assists through 33 games. As a result of his play, Palmieri was drafted in the first round, 26th overall, by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2009 NHL entry draft. After being released from the NTDP, Palmieri played one season of college hockey for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Palmieri spent one season with the Fighting Irish before turning professional with the Ducks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. He split his first three seasons with the team between the Crunch and the Ducks before becoming a mainstay on the NHL level. Following his fifth season with the team, Palmieri was traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for second and third-round draft picks in the 2015 NHL entry draft. Palmieri continued to produce while with the Devils and set numerous career-highs over six seasons. After spending six seasons with the Devils, Palmieri was traded to the New York Islanders.
Internationally, Palmieri has represented the United States at both the junior and senior levels. His first international tournament was at the 2007 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament.
Early life Palmieri was born on February 1, 1991, in Smithtown, New York, to parents Bruce and Tammy. After marrying, his parents spent a few years in Smithtown, where Kyle and his three older siblings were born, before moving to Montvale, New Jersey, when Kyle was four. His godfather is former shortstop Bud Harrelson, who is his father's cousin. His father worked in home construction and spent several years in Mattituck, on the north fork of Long Island. Palmieri began playing ice hockey at a friend’s house when he was five years old. He began playing with the Kodiak Hockey Club at McKay Ice Arena under coach Gary Hess.
Playing career Amateur Growing up, Palmieri played youth hockey for the New Jersey Devils-sponsored teams at Codey Arena in West Orange, New Jersey. He also played in the 2004 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the New Jersey Devils minor ice hockey team. At the age of 14, Palmieri joined the 16U Junior Devils organization. Afterward, he attended St. Peter's Preparatory School for two years. During his sophomore season, Palmieri led the Gordon Conference with 58 points and earned a first-team All-State selection. He finished his career-best season helping them to the New Jersey state final, where they lost to St. Augustine Preparatory School. As a result of his play, Palmieri earned an opportunity to play for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP) in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Upon joining the NTDP Under-18 team, Palmieri tallied 15 goals and 15 assists through 33 games and recorded a hat-trick in the gold medal round of the 2008 Five Nations Tournament. As a result of his play, Palmieri was drafted by the Guelph Storm in the sixth round of the 2008 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft, but never reported to the team. He returned to the NTDP for the 2008–09 season, where he was ranked 20th amongst all North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. However, Palmieri was released from the team for violating team rules, and he subsequently played college hockey for the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish. During his first and only season with the team, he scored nine goals in 33 games. During this time, Palmieri was drafted 26th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2009 NHL entry draft.
Professional Anaheim Ducks Following the 2009–10 season, Palmieri signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks and participated in their Rookie Tournament. He was soon reassigned to the Ducks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, to begin the 2010–11 season. In his first month with the team, Palmieri tallied six points in three games to help the team to a 1–1–1–0 record. By November, he had tallied seven goals and nine points in nine games to earn his first recall to the NHL level. Palmieri made his NHL debut on November 3, 2010, against the Tampa Bay Lightning and he scored his first career goal to lead the Ducks to an overtime win. Palmieri spent 10 games with the Ducks before being reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch. In January, he was chosen to compete for Team USA at the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. In his final 14 games with the Crunch, Palmieri tallied 15 goals and 20 points to earn the AHL's Rookie of the Month accolade for the month of March. He attributed much of his success to his linemate Nick Bonino, who had recorded 14 assists and 18 points during the same stretch. As a result of his offensive success, Palmieri was selected for the 2011 AHL Eastern Conference All-Star Team.
Palmieri returned to the Ducks organization the following season and participated in their training camp. He was returned to the AHL to begin the season, where he played on their top line alongside Nick Bonino and Patrick Maroon. Palmieri began the season strong and scored six points, including a hat-trick, in his first two games of the 2011–12 season. As such, he was named the AHL Player of the Week for the period ending October 16, 2011. Palmieri continued to produce as the season continued and he tallied 26 points prior to his NHL recall on December 9. At the time of his recall, he also led the league in goals, ranked fourth in scoring, co-led in game-winning goals, and ranked second in plus-minus. After playing in seven games for the Ducks, Palmieri was returned to the AHL, where he was selected for the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic. As his sophomore season continued, Palmieri reached new career-highs after collecting 54 points through 42 games. He remained with the Crunch until March 12 when he was recalled to the NHL level. Upon re-joining the Ducks, Palmieri became the first Anaheim rookie since Matt Beleskey to score two goals in a game. He competed in seven contests with the Ducks before being reassigned to the AHL. Palmieri finished the AHL regular season with 33 goals and 25 assists through 51 games as the Crunch qualified for the 2012 Calder Cup playoffs.
As a result of the 2012–13 NHL lockout, Palmieri split the 2012–13 season between the Ducks and their new AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. While playing with the Admirals, Palmieri tallied 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points before being promoted to the NHL level once the lockout ended. On February 28, Palmieri became the second-youngest Ducks player to record a hat-trick in a 5–1 win over the Nashville Predators. He finished the season with 21 points through 42 regular season games before playing in all seven Western Conference Quarterfinal games against the Detroit Red Wings. Once the playoffs concluded, it was revealed that Palmieri played through a shoulder injury. Despite this, coach Bruce Boudreau called his season "adequete." On July 26, Palmieri signed a three-year contract extension to remain with the Ducks organization.
The 2013–14 season was Palmieri's first full-time NHL campaign, and he set career-highs in goals, assists, and points. Following an injury to Dustin Penner mid-game, Palmieri was placed on the Ducks' top line alongside Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. On October 30, Palmieri recorded his fourth multi-goal game to help the Ducks come back from a 2–0 deficit against the Philadelphia Flyers. In his first game in his hometown New Jersey on November 4, Palmieri scored the game-winning goal at 9:09 into the first period and was named the game's third star. He finished the season with 31 points through 71 games as the Ducks qualified for the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. During Round 1 against the Dallas Stars, Palmieri scored one goal before being pulled from the lineup in Game 4. He remained out the Ducks' lineup until Game 3 of Round 2 against the Los Angeles Kings. Once the Ducks were eliminated by the Kings in Game 7, Palmieri ended the postseason with three goals and 14 penalty minutes through nine games.
In the second year of his new contract, Palmieri missed the majority of the Ducks' pre-season games due to a high ankle sprain. However, he was healthy enough to participate in two full practices with the Ducks before the season began. After missing 18 games, Palmieri made his season debut and started strong by recording two goals in four games. By December, he had tallied five goals and nine points through 15 games before being placed on injured reserve due to him aggravating his shoulder. When he returned to the lineup on January 2, he scored his sixth goal of the season to beat the St. Louis Blues 4–3.
New Jersey Devils On June 26, 2015, Palmieri was traded by the Ducks to his hometown club, the New Jersey Devils, in exchange for second and third-round picks in the 2015 NHL entry draft. As a result of the trade, Palmieri re-joined coach John Hynes, who had coached him with the UNTDP from 2007 to 2009. In his first season with the Devils, Palmieri set new career-highs and led the Devils with 30 goals and 57 points. As such, Palmieri signed a five-year $23.25 million contract extension to remain with the Devils organization on July 7, 2016.
Following the signing, Palmieri joined Team USA at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, where they failed to medal. He subsequently returned to the Devils organization and participated in training camp. Throughout the season, he played alongside Taylor Hall and Travis Zajac while maintaining a 13.5 shot percentage. Palmieri continued his scoring streak throughout the season and had tallied 18 goals through 33 games with 13 regular season games remaining in the season. He subsequently finished the season with a team-leading 26 goals and 27 assists.
During the 2017 off-season, Palmieri moved to Boston for his off-season training alongside Jimmy Hayes, Brian Boyle, Nick Lappin, and Brian Gibbons. He began the season with the Devils but suffered an injury during the season opener against the Colorado Avalanche. Upon returning to the Devils' lineup after missing one game, Palmieri slid into his previous spot on the top line alongside Taylor Hall and Pavel Zacha. On October 13, Palmieri tallied the 100th goal of his career in a 5–2 loss to the Washington Capitals. A few weeks later, Palmieri slid into the boards during practice and missed nearly three weeks to recover. During that time, the Devils won three games and lost two, with one game going to overtime. He returned to the lineup on November 9 and continued to produce offensively. He accumulated four goals and five assists in 13 games before suffering a broken foot during a game against the Minnesota Wild in late November. Palmieri remained out of the Devils lineup until after the Christmas break for precautionary reasons. During a 4–3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on March 27, Palmieri tallied his 10th multi-point game of the season and led the club in power play goals with 11. As a result of his production, Palmieri helped the Devils win 40 regular season games for the first time since 2011–12. They eventually qualified for the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs following a 2–1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 5. The Devils met with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round but were eliminated from playoff contention after falling 3–1 in Game 5.