New York Islanders’ rookie Matthew Schaefer (48) is living up to his top-pick billing, with the blue liner scoring 35 points in the first 53 games of his career.FRED GREENSLADE/The Canadian Press
One of the talents that separates the greats from the mere mortals is the ability to make the difficult appear effortless.
That certainly seemed the case when New York Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer first skated into the National Hockey League last fall. Though barely 18, he registered at least a point in each of his first six games as he began his NHL career with a flourish that would see him crowned top rookie for the month of October.
It’s not like those first half-dozen contests were a gentle introduction to the world’s best hockey league, either. Games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks ensured that Schaefer was thrown in at the deep end, going head to head with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini.
But while that trio will all be pulling on the Team Canada jersey in Milan next month as NHL hockey makes its Olympic return, the Hamilton native, who made Canada’s long list last November, will be watching on with the rest of us.
“Obviously it’s such an honour to have my name in the talks with such an amazing group of players that they picked,” Schaefer said on a Zoom call. “And I knew I was young going into it. I knew they had a great team at the 4 Nations and things like that. So I just was going out there and I kept playing my game.”
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Schaefer adds that he’s ready “if anything happens” with regards to injuries. His continued focus on his game has taken him to 13 goals and 35 points after Wednesday’s win over the rival New York Rangers, good for third in rookie scoring behind forwards Ivan Demidov of Montreal and Anaheim’s Beckett Sennecke.
His consistency has also seen him average 24:03 of ice time, tops on the Islanders – by almost three minutes – and 20th in the entire NHL.
If anything, a motivated Schaefer seems to have gotten even better since Canada announced its Olympic roster on New Year’s Eve, racking up 10 points in the 13 games since. That contrasts dramatically with the production of an Olympic-bound player like Drew Doughty, who had yet to register a point in 12 games so far in 2026 entering Thursday night’s play.
“I wouldn’t say it was easy,” said Schaefer, who spoke to The Globe and Mail to promote his partnership with the Kruger Big Assist, which helps make hockey more accessible to Canadians.
“There’s always lots of ups and downs no matter what. It’s not just easy flow, which I think everyone wishes it could be, but there’s so many things I’m always trying to work on.”
In addition to showcasing his offensive game, Schaefer is drawing tough defensive assignments, going up against the world’s top hockey players on a nightly basis for the Islanders.Brad Penner/Reuters
Seemingly like most things though, Schaefer takes it all in stride. After all, this is someone who lost both his mother, Jennifer, and his billet mom, Emily Matson, during a three-month period during his rookie season in the Ontario Hockey League. In his draft year, he battled back from breaking his collarbone at the 2025 world juniors to end up being taken first overall six months later, despite playing just 17 games for the Erie Otters that year.
Schaefer credits his Islander teammates for keeping his feet on the ground, particularly given that he seems to set new age-related NHL records every few games: youngest defenceman with a multigoal game; youngest defenceman with a point in his debut; youngest player to score an overtime goal.
Not that they don’t josh him his about his accomplishments as well.
“Definitely,” he said. “If something like that happens, whether it’s our goalie having a top shutout, you definitely have to put money on the board the next game, you know? The guys I think give it to everyone if that happens … but I’ve got to relay to my teammates on that, they’ve helped me so much with everything.”
That list extends to a former Islander as well. Matt Martin, who retired three days before Schaefer heard his named called at the draft, has become his de facto landlord, putting the defenceman up and imparting some pearls of wisdom gleaned from a 16-year NHL career, mostly on Long Island.
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That family environment – Martin, who is now special assistant to Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche, has four kids – also helps Schaefer decompress from living in the NHL bubble.
“When I’m at the rink, it’s all about hockey. I’m always focused,” he said. “But when I’m away, I like to be a kid. I like to watch movies, call friends, call family. Now, since I’m at Matt Martin’s house, I’m playing with the girls all the time, so I’m doing dress-up and things like that.”
Playing on Long Island has also meant playing for head coach Patrick Roy. Obviously, given the Hall of Fame goaltender retired four years before Schaefer was born, YouTube has proved more than useful for brushing up on his coach’s legendary status in the sport.
“Everyone knows about him because he was such a great goaltender and a great player,” Schaefer said. “I didn’t get to watch him because I was too young, but I got to see highlights and things like that. But as a coach, he’s been awesome.”
The evolving trust that Roy has in his young protégé can be seen in the ice time that Schaefer has earned as the season has gone on. Case in point would be his two games against the Oilers. In the first, his third career game, Schaefer played just 17:38 in the Islanders’ 4-2 win. In the most recent, two weeks ago, he was on the ice for 26:35 as the Islanders swept the season series with a 1-0 shutout.
Happily for Schaefer, he is yet to be on the ice for a McDavid goal against. Not that he’s about to stand around and watch.
“It’s definitely crazy, obviously, going against some of the best players in the world,” he said. “But it’s super fun because when McDavid’s coming at you full speed, he’s the fastest player in the NHL.
“So you got to adapt to it, but they’re always trying to make moves on you, and they always want to beat you, and you always want to beat them. So you honestly get better each and every day.”
Schaefer has welcomed the challenge of taking on the likes of Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid.TIMOTHY MATWEY/The Canadian Press