Matthew Schaefer is running out of precedents to break, and he is only 18.
Every night, the Islanders’ rookie phenom seems to add another chapter to a history book normally reserved for names like Bobby Orr, Phil Housley, and Aaron Ekblad. The NHL has not seen a teenage defenseman arrive with this level of impact, consistency, and flair in decades, and Schaefer is somehow making it look routine.
Per NHL PR, with eight goals and 17 points in his first 25 NHL games, Schaefer has now done something no teenage defenseman had ever done before: he became the first in league history to score eight goals through his first 25 career games, breaking a tie with Orr, who had seven goals in his first 25. When you eclipse one of the greatest defensemen ever, people take notice.
MORE HISTORY FOR MATTHEW SCHAEFER 🔥 pic.twitter.com/JMYLz4jzQi
— NHL (@NHL) November 28, 2025
The comparisons do not stop there. Schaefer’s explosive November placed him in even rarer company. With five goals in the month, he became just the third 18-year-old defenseman ever to score at least five goals in a calendar month, joining Housley, who scored seven in January 1983, and Bobby Orr, who scored five in November 1966. This is not normal territory.
His 17 points in 25 games also match the early career production of Orr and Ekblad, tying all three players for the third most points by an 18-year-old defenseman through his first 25 games. And his eight career goals already place him among the top young blueliners in league history. Only Rasmus Dahlin and Zach Bogosian, both with nine, sit ahead of him among teenage defensemen.
What makes Schaefer’s emergence even more remarkable is that he is accomplishing all of this while logging heavy minutes, playing on both special teams, and being trusted in all situations by Patrick Roy. Records, milestones, comparisons. They are piling up fast. But at the core of it is a simple truth: Matthew Schaefer is doing things 18-year-olds have never done, and he is only getting started.