NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at the early prowess of rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
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Matthew Schaefer is making an immediate impact for the New York Islanders early on in his rookie season and ranks near the top of the charts in various NHL EDGE stats categories.
Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, became the youngest such defenseman (18 years, 34 days) to play an NHL game and the fourth 18-year-old in history to have points in each of his first six games, joining Wayne Gretzky (1979-80 with the Edmonton Oilers), Alexandre Daigle (1993-94 with the Ottawa Senators) and Sidney Crosby (2005-06 with the Pittsburgh Penguins). Schaefer ranks in the top 10 among defensemen in both shot attempts (47; eighth) and shots on goal (19; tied for fifth) while he's also been on the ice for 11 of the Islanders’ 20 goals this season (tied for most on team with forward Bo Horvat).
After playing 17:15 in his NHL debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 9, Schaefer played 26:04 against the Washington Capitals in his home debut on Oct. 11, followed by 26:35 against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 13. Since time on ice officially was tracked in 1997-98, Schaefer is the third rookie to have a point, at least four shots on goal and play at least 26:00 in consecutive games, joining Moritz Seider (2021-22 with Detroit Red Wings) and Alex Ovechkin (2005-06 with Washington Capitals). Schaefer did that in just his second and third career games.
With the Islanders winning three straight games after beginning the season 0-3-0, here are three underlying reasons behind Schaefer’s early prowess and rapid rise to near the top of the Calder Trophy race:
1. Skating speed
Schaefer ranks just outside the top 10 in the entire NHL in 20-plus mile per hour speed bursts (30), trailing only the usual group of forward speedsters including Connor McDavid (57; first), Nathan MacKinnon (47; second) and Jack Eichel (38; sixth). Schaefer’s total in that category leads all defensemen, ahead of Cale Makar (21 in seven games) and Quinn Hughes (20 in six games), each of whom have played an additional game.
Schaefer reached his max skating speed (22.70 mph) of the season against the Jets on Oct. 13, the 10th-highest mark among NHL defensemen. The only player at his position with more 22-plus mph speed bursts than Schaefer (three) is Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson (four).
