It is no secret this season has been disappointing for the New York Islanders. Through the struggles of injuries, coaching, and inconsistency, one player has performed very well while under the radar for all of 2023-24. After having a few relatively disappointing campaigns on the Islanders, Kyle Palmieri is starting to blossom in his age-33 season.
Why Move Palmieri
After being acquired in a haul in the 2020-21 NHL season, Palmieri has struggled, yet to eclipse 20 goals or 35 points in a season in New York. Now, he is on pace to score well over 20 goals and push 50 points. He has been a key winger for Brock Nelson, who is having another impressive season and has helped the team’s power play find its way toward the top of the league. Despite all of this, the Islanders sit in the middle of the league and have very little cap space.
To move on from Palmieri would not only be untraditional for general manager Lou Lamoriello but also a move that would signify a lack of trust in this current core. However, there is a multitude of reasons why this is not the case. Not only is Palmieri 33 years old, but he is making $5 million. For a team tight to the cap with a lot of money locked up long-term, freeing his salary, or most of it, heading into the summer would be a massive help in addressing other needs.
Related: Is Ilya Sorokin to Blame for the Islanders’ Struggles?
While Palmeri has been performing well, having 15 goals on 17.1 expected goals, according to Money Puck, he is likely to decline over the remainder of his contract. With him being in full health, this is the highest his value will ever be. If he plays his cards right, Lamoriello could likely get some valuable assets in return, potentially a first-round pick if he can take back a bad contract to offset salaries.
Potential Suitors
Finding suitors for Palmieri should not be difficult. A veteran winger on pace to score over 20 goals is appealing to all teams hoping to make a playoff run, but only a few teams would make a trade feasible. Also, he has a 16-team no-trade clause, which could cause issues in getting trade talks going.
Vegas Golden Knights
The first suitor is the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Vegas Golden Knights. A team that should be getting more discussion in the media, the Knights will be poised to make another move. Expected to have just under four million dollars in cap space at the trade deadline, the Knights could make a move to solidify their middle-six forward group. After Reilly Smith was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins this past summer, the team lost a veteran winger.
Palmieri has outpaced Smith in goals, assists, and points this season and should be on GM Kelly McCrimmon’s radar. A trade would need to fit under the salary cap, and with Vegas having Jack Eichel on the long-term injured reserve, as well as Mark Stone, William Carrier, and Pavel Dorofeyev on the injured reserve, it is hard to predict exactly how much cap space Vegas will have. But retention of one million on Palmieri’s deal would be sure to make the salaries work, pending any other moves. Having all of their picks over the next three seasons besides a 2024 fourth-round pick and 2025 seventh-round pick, Vegas has the assets to make a deal work. If they miss out on Vladimir Tarasenko or Pavel Buchnevich, Palmieri would be a good option to turn to.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The second suitor is the team that eliminated the Islanders in their two most recent trips to the Eastern Conference Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning. After losing defender Mikhail Sergachev for the season an injury, the team now has over seven million dollars in cap space. While that money is likely to be spent on a defender, they will likely bring in a forward too.
Adding Palmieri to their forward core would add yet another veteran presence and solidify the depth, an area of concern for the team recently. The cap hit of Palmieri would be more of an issue for next season than this year, but retention could make a trade work for both teams. Tampa Bay has considerably fewer picks than Vegas, but a package starting with a 2025 second-round pick could work for both sides. For Lamoriello to move Palmieri to another team competing for a wild-card spot may be hard to imagine, but if he is looking to sell, he will trade him for the best option possible.
As of now, this is all complete speculation. Since Lamoriello’s teams are always tight-lipped, Palmieri trade talks would be no different. While moving on from him would be a tough loss, retaining him until the summer would be of no use unless the Islanders were to be in the playoff hunt. With the next few weeks having matchups against teams like Tampa Bay, Dallas Stars, and Boston Bruins, a rough stretch of performances could lead to moves.