That elephant in the room is around Kyle Palmieri. What should the Devils do with Palmieri? Is he a fit in the Devils’ long-term plans? Or is he trade bait?
Palmieri had a stellar season in the offensive zone. In 74 games played, he had 27 goals, 23 assists and 18 power-play points. That’s pretty solid, especially since the Devils struggled to score goals last season. But, there is a problem with Palmieri. He’s one-dimensional.
One Dimensional
If you look at the visual below (created by Sean Tierney, data from EvolvingWild and Corey Sznajder), you’ll see the Palmieri wasn’t a carry-in specialist.