NEWARK – Kyle Palmieri admits it can sometimes be "a little overwhelming" in a good way being the New Jersey guy playing for the Devils.

The Montvale native got another reminder of that following the Devils' 3-0 win in Ottawa on Wednesday night.

Two squirt teams from the Ramapo Saints hockey program he grew up playing with were in Canada's capital for a holiday week tournament and attended the Devils' game at Canadian Tire Centre.

"So, there were 35 kids in the postgame passes area to sign autographs for," Palmieri said Friday.

That's been an ancillary impact of the 2015 draft day trade that brought Palmieri home from Anaheim to the Devils.

On the ice, Palmieri has been a big reason why the Devils have been one of the league's biggest surprises this season. He leads the team with a career-best 16 goals heading into tonight's game against the first-overall Dallas Stars at Prudential Center.

What he has noticed off the ice over the first three months of the season is that being a Devils player who got his start in the sport growing up in New Jersey is providing inspiration to those in the area hoping to follow the same path.

"Playing youth hockey and growing up in Jersey, it's a little easier for kids to look at it and say, 'That could be me one day,' " Palmieri said. "Especially with the programs I grew up playing for, it kind of gives them something a little more tangible than seeing a bunch of guys – some guys that came over from Europe and guys from Canada."

During his off time, Palmieri has visited the Ramapo Saints, who are based out of Sport-O-Rama in Monsey, N.Y., and has stopped into Ice Vault in Wayne to watch his younger brother, Devon, play for the Jersey Hitmen junior team and to see some high school games. He hasn't had a chance yet to stop by South Mountain Arena in West Orange, where he used to play for the New Jersey Junior Devils program, but plans to in the future.

"You have Jersey kids now that can turn on MSG [Network] and you see somebody that played for your youth hockey team," Palmieri said. "I think it's just a little more tangible for them and I love to go back and see the kids and see my old coaches in those same old rinks. So, it's been great so far."