Kyle Palmieri

Kyle Palmieri

With the 26th pick the Ducks selected University of Notre Dame bound forward Kyle Palmieri. He was the 19th rated player by TSN, last season as part of the USTDP he had 15 goals in 33 games, including 4 GWG.

Although he’s not a tall guy he is thick, he is a well built player. He reminds me of former Duck, Chris Kunitz he doesn’t let his size prohibit him from not going to the dirty areas or getting in on the forecheck. If anything I’d say Palmieri has better hands and the potential to be a 30 goal scorer is certainly NOT out of the question. He was ranked in the top 3 at the bench press at the combine, he’s a very interesting talent and in my opinion could be a big steal.

Some controversy followed him when he was kicked off of the United States U-18 team for what was termed “breaking team rules” according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie on draft day it was due to having girls up in the room, he answered all the questions in interviews and once again like with Holland you have to just trust the Ducks in their character evaluations. In reality an 18 year old kid having girls in his room can’t really be considered a big deal and when you look at his talent level, well I think he’s a steal at 26.

He does take some risks offensively, but almost every good offensive player does this, he will learn to pick his spots better but when you watch him shoot the puck, you will see his wrist shot is deadly and in the NHL there is always room for players that can shoot the puck, plus it’s not like this kid is a 1 dimensional talent, he’s considered a solid all around guy, I’ve heard some people compare him to Zach Parise because of his skills and “motor” but that is a bit far fetched right now, we’ll have to re-evaluate those comparisons after he plays a year of college hockey.

I project his potential to be a 2nd line type winger capable of 30 goals who does a lot of the things it takes to win, on a dominant first line he could certainly step in and contribute, he’s atleast 3 years away from the NHL, I expect him to stay at UND for atleast two of them.