Two of the Islanders’ biggest holes should fill themselves this offseason.
The Isles struggled all year to adequately replace Kyle Palmieri’s production after he tore his ACL, and ended up trading a third-round pick to the Rangers for Carson Soucy in an attempt to fill the hole left by Alexander Romanov’s shoulder injury.
Both players are expected to be back without any limitations on day one of training camp which does, at least, change some of the contours of the offseason, even if their returns will come too late to save the Islanders from missing the playoffs.
“Disgusting. Terrible,” Romanov said of how it felt to miss all but 15 games this year. “It’s really tough to just watch hockey all season long and just practicing and rehabbing. That’s what I was dealing with.”
Had the Islanders made the playoffs, Romanov would likely be in the lineup right now. When the season ended, he had rejoined practices and was getting close to playing in games. His summer should be close to normal, albeit with a little extra work on his shoulder.
The same doesn’t necessarily hold true for Palmieri. While he may have attempted a comeback had the Islanders made a deep run, he said on breakup day that he’s “got a couple more months here of the day to day of the rehab stuff.”
The history of players returning from ACL injuries also shows that it usually takes some time to play at the same level as before; Anders Lee, for example, has talked before about not feeling like himself for much of his first season back after suffering the same injury.
The speed at which Palmieri recovers, and the role Romanov ends up playing, are both massive questions for the Islanders’ 2026-27 hopes.
The Islanders were depending on Palmieri to score 25-30 goals and finish with around 50 points when they signed him to a two-year extension last summer, and after his injury, that production was never really replaced. In a free agency class that’s not highly regarded by general manager Mathieu Darche, it’s doubtful there’s an easy option available on the open market for the Islanders to plug into their top six either.
So there’s a strong possibility that a lot hinges on their hope that Palmieri can recover his game quickly.
“I’m a little over four months post-op. It’s feeling really good on the ice,” said Palmieri, who had begun skating on his own before the season ended. “I’m looking forward to putting this behind me and having a pretty normal summer as far as training and getting ready for the season.”
As for Romanov, his reentry into the fold presents Darche with an interesting dilemma on the left side of the blue line.
After Matthew Schaefer’s ascendence into superstardom came so quickly, Romanov — who the Islanders signed to an eight-year deal at $6.25 million annually last summer — suddenly looks like the third-pair defenseman, behind both Schaefer and Adam Pelech.
That trio also means there’s no obvious spot for Isaiah George, another lefty, to play after a season in which injuries meant George never really got his chance while the Islanders were searching for call-ups to replace Romanov.
Do the Islanders move someone to their off-side, given their depth chart is much thinner on the right? Or do they explore moving one of Pelech, who has a 16-team no-trade clause, or George? That could be one route to improving the forward group, but it would amount to another major bet on Romanov, who’s coming off a serious injury and who struggled through the first 15 games of this season before getting hurt.
How that situation sorts itself out is a question for Darche to grapple with throughout the offseason.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
