Ilya Sorokin chat EAST MEADOW, NY -- Last week, I sat down with New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/] pending unrestricted free agent Brock Nelson [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/brock-nelson-new-york-islanders-2025-nhl-trade-deadline-free-agency-contract] to discuss his mindset in a contract year. Following Thursday's morning skate, I spoke with fellow pending UFA Kyle Palmieri about where his mind is at. "I think for me, this year, I haven't really worried about it. I think it'll take care of itself, whatever decisions are made," Palmieri told THN. "As cliche as it sounds, a lot of it is out of my control right now. I'm focused on helping this team win and getting the ball rolling as a team in the new year." The Islanders are currently five points out of a wild-card spot, and Palmieri, who has arguably been the most consistent player since Patrick Roy walked through the doors on Jan. 20 of last season, will be mentioned frequently, along with Nelson, as the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline (March 7) nears. "Either way, that's why you have an agent," Palmieri said. "Lou [Lamoriello] has been doing this a long time. So I don't think it's anything that really involves me as far as day to day. I think I'm focused on this group in here and doing what I can as a player and as a teammate to make our team better." Like Nelson, Palmieri has had the pressure of being a pending UFA before. But unlike Nelson, the New Jersey native has been traded twice in his career. On June 26, 2015, the Anaheim Ducks traded Palmieri to the New Jersey Devils for a second and third-round pick in that year's draft. At the time, he had one season left on his deal. After an impressive first season in Jersey, scoring 30 goals, the Devils inked him to a five-year deal, making him a pending UFA in the 2020-2021. He became an Islander, along with Travis Zajac, on Apr. 7, 2021, in what was a wacky season that began in January. The Islanders sent the Devils A.J. Greer and Mason Jobst, their 2021 first-round pick and a conditional 2022 fourth-round pick in 2022. "Drawing from my past experience, it was a little weird, my last year in Jersey, there," Palmieri said. "Just with COVID, the bubble, it was an interesting situation." Unlike when the Islanders acquired Jean-Gabriel Pageau at the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline and immediately signed him to a five-year extension, Palmieri didn't get his extension until Sept. 1, 2021. "Even as a free agent, the landscape was just different," Palmieri said, as the salary cap didn't go up at all, with a few high-profile free agents electing to take one-year deals, hoping to cash in if and when the cap did, rise. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjExODgwNTM3MjkwMTg4Nzc2/usatsi_25013163.jpg] But regardless of whether Palmieri gets an extension or is on the move, he's not the one dealing with much during the season. "Either way, that's why you have an agent," Palmieri said. "Lou [Lamoriello] has been doing this a long time. So I don't think it's anything that really involves me as far as day to day. I think I'm focused on this group in here and doing what I can as a player and as a teammate to make our team better." While Palmieri may not have as much value as Nelson, he should be a top-five name on trade boards and has played well enough to garner at least a first-round pick or multiple seconds. Like Nelson, it doesn't sound like Palmieri has an extension in place and hasn't had many talks with Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello at this moment in time. From the conversations, Lamoriello, Nelson, and Palmieri seem to be thinking, "Let's see where the team is in a few months and then proceed from there." Palmieri has 12 goals with 14 assists for 26 points in 39 games this season.
