Palmieri Back At Islanders Camp After 10 Months Of ACL Rehab

Kyle Palmieri is skating with structure again, and after 10 months away, he is not pretending that feels ordinary.

The 35-year-old forward is back with the New York Islanders at training camp following surgery to repair a torn ACL, an injury he suffered on Nov. 28, 2025 against the Philadelphia Flyers when he battled Jamie Drysdale and landed awkwardly on the boards. It cost him the rest of the 2025-26 season.

"The idea of kind of being back in a team structure, and I've obviously been skating with my teammates for the last couple weeks here, but to do it with some structure and for real; I've missed it," Palmieri said, according to nhl.com. "It's been a long time, and it was nothing but exciting to be out there."

The early part of the rehab happened in the water. Palmieri said he was in the pool five or six days a week for the first 12 weeks, learning to swim properly in the process.

"It certainly wasn't pretty," he said. "It gave me a bit of respect for people who do distance swimming because I'm not built for that."

The walk to the Nassau County Aquatic Center was its own test in a Long Island winter. "It wasn't fun walking over there in the middle of winter and walking back with a wet bathing suit on, but I made it through a couple of snowstorms and stuff like that," Palmieri said.

He had company. Semyon Varlamov, Alexander Romanov and Pierre Engvall all worked through long-term injuries last season, and Palmieri said the group pushed one another through the monotony. The only real friction was the gym playlist, which is why he made a point of getting there first.

"Romy's got like a rap thing to him, Varly is like Ibiza beach club music, and it's just not for me."