- Kyle Palmieri is ready for Islanders camp after tearing his right ACL last November
- Mathieu Darche gave an update on the 35-year-old winger’s recovery
- Read below for the full Islanders injury rundown ahead of training camp
Kyle Palmieri is a full go.
Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche was asked Wednesday about the veterans coming back from major injuries, and he started with the winger who lost most of last season to a torn knee ligament.
“Kyle Palmieri’s been skating all summer. He’s been here all summer. He looks great, fully healthy.”
Watch Darche’s full media availability:
Palmieri tore his right ACL on Nov. 28 in a game against the Flyers and never made it back. The 35-year-old was off to one of the better starts of his Islanders run, with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 25 games.
Darche’s session, relayed by Stefen Rosner of NHL.com, ran through every name on the list.
Alexander Romanov is the one who turned heads. The defenseman had season-ending shoulder surgery in late November after Mikko Rantanen boarded him in Dallas on Nov. 18, and Darche was asked how he looks three weeks into skating again.
“Romanov, he’s been back for three weeks. He’s 12 pounds lighter. That’s as good as I’ve seen him, the way he’s moving on the ice. I challenged him at the end of the year, and he put in the work this summer.”
Pierre Engvall rounds out the group. He sat out all of 2025-26 with an ankle injury suffered before camp, which followed offseason hip surgery.
Then there’s Semyon Varlamov, who hasn’t played an NHL game since Nov. 29, 2024. Two knee procedures later, the 38-year-old is off medication and on the ice four or five times a week, which Darche called “almost a miracle”.
That one matters most for Ilya Sorokin. From March 5 to the second-to-last game of the season, Sorokin played 18 of New York’s 19 games while the backup spot leaked.
Four healthy veterans will not erase two straight springs without playoff hockey, but the Islanders finished seven points out of third in the Metropolitan last season with all four watching. Camp opens in roughly two weeks, and New York opens the season Sept. 30 against Toronto.
