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.
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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
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.
International play
Internationally, Palmieri has represented the United States at both the junior and senior levels. His first international tournament was the 2007 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament, where he scored two goals in three games. Following this, Palmieri competed at the 2008 Five Nations Tournament, where he scored a hat-trick to lead Team USA to a gold medal. In the same year, Palmieri also represented his home country at the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships where he won a bronze medal. Palmieri next represented Team USA at the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships during his freshman year at Notre Dame. He finished third on the team in scoring with one goal and eight assists to help the team win a gold medal. Palmieri subsequently became the first Notre Dame player to capture a gold medal in World Junior Championship play. His final tournament at the junior level was the 2011 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships where he earned a bronze medal. In the second game of the tournament, Palmieri scored two goals and an assist to beat Slovakia 6–1 and earn Team USA's Player of the Game.
Palmieri made his debut with the United States men's national ice hockey team at the 2012 IIHF World Championship, where he tallied two goals in seven games. Following this, he was named to Team USA at the World Cup of Hockey as a replacement for Ryan Callahan.
Personal life
Palmieri married his wife Ashlee in July 2019 at Macari Vineyards in Mattituck, New York. His older sister Taylor and brother-in-law Stephen Ficchi are both members of the United States Army. His sister is a member of the New York Army National Guard while Stephen is a United States Army Rangers. As a result of this, Palmieri launched Squad21 to offer active or veteran military service members the chance to attend a Devils home game during the 2016–17 regular season. This expanded into the Kyle Palmieri Foundation, a charitable organization that supports three military nonprofits, in 2018. He also held an annual Military Ball that included an auction. Palmieri subsequently became the Devil's 2018 nominee for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy as a player "who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community."
In 2019, Palmieri, Scott Wilson, Jeff Francoeur, and the players’ associations for NHL, MLB, and NFL players, filed a complaint against the City of Pittsburgh for their nonresident sports facility usage fee. The complaint contended that the city made out-of-state athletes pay a fee equal to 3% of their taxable earned income for the days in which they play games in publicly funded sports facilities.