Islanders' Kyle Palmieri a nominee for Masterton Trophy
Kyle Palmieri of the New York Islanders skates during the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The play that exemplified best why Kyle Palmieri is the Islanders’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the sport might not have resulted in a season-ending injury after all.
Provided the team can somehow qualify for the playoffs.
The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, whose members vote upon the award, announced the nominees for all 32 teams on Wednesday morning.
“It’s been a long road and the comeback is not quite complete for me,” Palmieri said in his first public comments since suffering a torn ACL in his left knee on Nov. 28. “Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we’ll see how the season unfolds. Getting back on the ice was a big step a couple of weeks ago. As long as I keep progressing, I’m definitely not putting it out of my mind.”
The 35-year-old Smithtown product was injured in the second period of an eventual 4-3 shootout loss to the Flyers at UBS Arena. Palmieri fell to the ice behind the Flyers’ net clutching his left knee after colliding with Jamie Drysdale.
Play continued and Palmieri was eventually able to drag himself up and limp toward the Islanders’ bench. On the way, he stripped Emil Andrae of the puck to set up Emil Heineman’s goal at 5:42 to start a rally from a three-goal deficit.
“I said it should win an ESPY for toughest play of the year,” Mathew Barzal said.
“That was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen for sure,” defenseman Adam Pelech said. “And it’s funny just because it’s so Palms. It just really epitomizes him as a player and a person. He has no quit. It was an all-time tough play. Unfortunately, he sustained a pretty bad injury but very cool.”
Palmieri called it an honor to be nominated for the Masterton but added the moment against the Flyers was simultaneously “cool” and one of his “worst.”
“That night after hearing what the doctor had said, that weekend was a little bit of a blur,” Palmieri said. “But for how viral that clip went and the amount of people that reached out and even since then just random fans seeing them on the street, it’s cool to have a moment like that to remember. There’s some bittersweetness to the severity of the injury.”
The Islanders have had three Masterton winners: Ed Westfall (1977), Mark Fitzpatrick (1992) and Robin Lehner (2019).
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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