Islanders’ Kyle Palmieri placed on injured reserve

The move should come as no surprise after it was announced on Saturday that Palmieri would miss the next six-to-eight months with an ACL tear. His placement on IR is solely to give the Islanders the extra space on their roster, as the move doesn’t provide them any cap flexibility. The Islanders currently have $13.75 million tied up in injured players in Palmieri, Alex Romanov and Semyon Varlamov, but they will likely wait to put someone on long-term injured reserve until they need to.

Palmieri sustained the ACL tear midway through the second period of the Islanders 4-3 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers when he found himself in an awkward collision with Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale. He looked to be in pain while remaining on the ice, but did skate back to the bench on his own. He left the game shortly afterwards and did not return.

The incident saw plenty of replays across social media, but not for the hit itself, as Palmieri didn’t just return to the bench after the hit. He got plenty of respect and appreciation for stealing the puck from an unsuspecting Emil Andrae as he was on his way to the bench, and then Palmieri dished the puck to Jonathan Drouin, who then set up Emil Heineman for a goal. That was the Isles’ first goal of the game after going down 3-0 to the Flyers, and it sparked a comeback for New York before they ultimately lost in the shootout.

Barring a miracle recovery or a deep playoff run by the Islanders, Palmieri will be out for the rest of the season. He finishes with six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 25 games.

The Islanders also used that free roster space from Palmieri’s IR placement by recalling Marc Gatcomb from their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Islanders. Gatcomb has played just one game in the NHL this season where he was held without a point, and he has four goals and four assists for eight points in 15 games in the AHL.