Islanders need more from these four

Kyle Palmieri

Kyle Palmieri seemingly played two different seasons last season. There was the one where he only scored a goal for the first 29 games and then there was the one where he couldn't stop scoring with 14 goals in his last 40 games(despite having a handful of goals called back). His second-half pace accrues to 29 goals in an 82-game season, exactly what the Islanders signed up for when they acquired him.

When Palmieri was finally healthy, the COVID issues were behind him, and when he returned from paternity leave, the consistency led to confidence and the 31-year-old winger looked like the former version of himself again:

"Obviously, when things aren’t going well individually and as a team, it’s easy to kinda lose faith and not believe in yourself. I was definitely guilty of that."

- Kyle Palmieri

Deployment will be interesting next season as Palmieri can slot in on the right side anywhere in the Islanders' top-9. He has plenty of time skating alongside all of Barzal, Nelson, and Pageau with most of his minutes coming with the latter. Whatever line he ends up on next season, it's safe to assume Palmieri will have a better season if he scores more consistently than he did when he had just one goal in his first 29 games.