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New Jersey Devils: Where Is Kyle Palmieri’s Ceiling?

By Nick Villano

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - OCTOBER 14: Kyle Palmieri #21 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates his powerplay goal at 7:06 of the second period against Martin Jones #31 of the San Jose Sharks at the Prudential Center on October 14, 2018 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - OCTOBER 14: Kyle Palmieri #21 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates his powerplay goal at 7:06 of the second period against Martin Jones #31 of the San Jose Sharks at the Prudential Center on October 14, 2018 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils record another win on Sunday afternoon, and for the third game in a row Kyle Palmieri scored two goals. With his extremely hot start, just how great can Palmieri be?

This is starting to get ridiculous. Kyle Palmieri has scored two goals in every single New Jersey Devils game this season. All three of them. It’s something that’s never been done in Devils history, and actually has Palmieri scoring more goals per game than Auston Matthews. He’s tied for third in the league in goals, but has done it in at least two games less than anyone else.

Obviously, there’s no way Palmieri is going to keep up this pace. He’s scoring on a 164 goal pace, so it’s safe to say that isn’t going to happen. With his hot start, we must ask what the ceiling is for the Devils first-line winger.

Well, preseason Pucks and Pitchforks predicted he would score 32 goals and 30 assists. He’s well on his way, only needing 26 goals in the next 79 games. That’s extremely doable.

The issue is Taylor Hall has yet to score a goal. He will eventually start lighting the lamp, taking opportunities to score away from Palmieri. Just because Hall gets going doesn’t mean Palmieri’s production stops, but there are only so many chances for the team’s top line.

Palmieri is scoring in every single way. He as goals on wristers sent past goalies, one-timers and just pushing until a puck finds his way under a goaltender’s pad. He’s showing he can score in any way, giving him the flexibility to change his role depending on the shift.

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Of course, Palmieri has to stay healthy to reach his ceiling. He missed 20 games last season with various injuries. It was the first injury-plagued season of his time with the Devils, so it’s not something we expect to happen again.

Palmieri turned 27 this year, so technically he’s beginning his prime. We’d expect his best season to happen this year or next year. If that’s the case, we may need to adjust the projections for Palmieri’s season. After coming off such a hot start, we have to believe Palmieri’s new goal has to be at least 35 goals. Scoring 24 goals over the next 79 games almost feels like a disappointment at this point.

Beyond that would be well beyond what we expect from Palmieri. Even with Hall and Nico Hischier next to him, it’s hard to believe Palmieri can break 40 goals. Hopefully he keeps scoring at a ridiculous pace, because this team can use every single goal.

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