- Kyle Palmieri is seven months removed from surgery on the ACL he tore in November
- The Islanders forward says he feels good on the ice and expects to be ready for camp
- Read below for what Palmieri said about the knee and why the Isles need him back
Kyle Palmieri is skating again, and he sounds like a guy who plans to be at training camp on time.
The Islanders forward gave an update on his left knee Wednesday at a street hockey clinic he hosted for military families in East Meadow, seven months after surgery to repair a torn ACL.
“This summer has been as close to normal as it can be seven months after ACL surgery,” Palmieri told Newsday’s Justin Girshon. “There are some things I can’t do or stay away from. But for the most part, I feel good on the ice, and I’m looking forward to getting back on the ice with my teammates.”
The injury came on Nov. 28 against Philadelphia, and how it happened is the part Long Island still talks about. Palmieri went down in the corner, got up limping, then stripped a Flyers defenseman on his way to the bench and moved the puck to Jonathan Drouin, who set up Emil Heineman for a goal.
Watch the last play he made before the diagnosis:
New York confirmed the next day that he needed surgery and would miss six to eight months:
He finished the year with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 25 games. Stretch that rate across a full schedule and he would have been near the top of a lineup that ranked 25th in the NHL in goals.
Getting him back carries more weight now. Anders Lee signed with Utah in free agency, and general manager Mathieu Darche spent July watching instead of shopping, and nobody has replaced the scoring the Isles lost.
The 35-year-old is entering the second year of the two-year, $9.5 million contract he signed last offseason. The Smithtown native is about to start his seventh season with the Islanders, and he was the team’s King Clancy nominee last spring for the foundation work that had him on the rink with those kids Wednesday.
Around the league, he is one of several veterans counting down to a training camp return after losing most or all of last season to surgery.
Palmieri has not played a game since that November night in Elmont. He does not plan on missing the start of the 2026-27 season.
