The trade in which the New Jersey Devils obtained Palmieri from the Anaheim Ducks on June 27, 2015, brought a Jersey boy back home. Though he was born in Smithtown, N.Y., Palmieri grew up in New Jersey, attended high school at St. Peter's Prep near Montvale and started his career as a member of the New Jersey Devils Youth Hockey Club in West Orange.

What the Devils picked up in that deal was a speedy, high-energy forward who had spent eight years away from home: two years with USA Hockey's National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich., one with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., and five with the Ducks and their minor league affiliates.

Maybe it was the increased ice time Palmieri received in New Jersey, but the homecoming appeared to spark his scoring touch. He scored 30 goals for the Devils in 2015-16, two more than he had in his final two seasons with the Ducks combined.

Not that the high-end production was a surprise. Palmieri, Anaheim's first-round pick (No. 26) in the 2009 NHL Draft, scored 62 goals during his first two seasons in the minors while playing for Syracuse of the American Hockey League.

On April 9, 2010, Palmieri later became the first Ducks rookie since Matt Beleskey to score two goals in one game. He was 22 years and 26 days old on Feb. 27, 2013, when he became the second youngest player in franchise history to have a hat trick; he scored three straight goals against the Nashville Predators for the sixth natural hat trick in franchise history.

The first of those three goals was the game-winner, one of five Palmieri scored during 2012-13, when he finished tied for sixth among all NHL skaters in game-winning goals.