{"id":109981,"date":"2025-07-04T04:37:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T04:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/109981\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T04:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T04:37:10","slug":"matthew-schaefer-gives-coaches-first-glimpse-in-islanders-development-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/109981\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Schaefer gives coaches first glimpse in Islanders development camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

There may have been some half-joking attempts to recruit Matthew Schaefer<\/a> from the Islanders\u2019 prospects who will be going to school in the fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Schaefer, though, is not looking to play in college, and he\u2019s not looking to return to the OHL\u2019s Erie Otters. <\/p>\n

When he comes back to Long Island in September for training camp, he doesn\u2019t want to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew Schaefer takes part in practice during the Islanders 2025 Development Camp at Northwell Health Ice Center at Eisenhower Park on June 30, 2025. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t thought about [college] at all,\u201d the No. 1 pick said after development camp wrapped up Thursday. \u201cMy goal is to play here on the Island. This is where I want to be. I haven\u2019t thought about anything else. I can\u2019t wait to work hard this summer, so I\u2019m here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For four days this week, Schaefer was the biggest show at development camp. <\/p>\n

The Islanders\u2019 practice<\/a> facility was over capacity for Wednesday night\u2019s scrimmage, and the practices all drew large crowds despite being on weekday mornings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was in no small part for Schaefer, with a buzz picking up whenever the puck was on his stick and brand new No. 48 sweaters easy to spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the roof would go up if he would\u2019ve scored on one of those plays,\u201d Islanders coach Patrick Roy said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Though it\u2019s no guarantee Schaefer makes the roster<\/a>, what he did show this week made clear how high his ceiling is. <\/p>\n

Matthew Schaefer (left) and Eric Cairns take part in practice during the Islanders 2025 Development Camp. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Even in light practices, his skating skill is obvious, and his ability to move the puck and make outlet passes was on display throughout Wednesday\u2019s scrimmage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bridgeport coach Rocky Thompson, who ran the development camp, said more than once that he didn\u2019t use it to evaluate players but to try to take them out of their comfort zone, forcing them to add new skills. <\/p>\n

Even on something as simple as keeping eyes up while skating, though, Schaefer stood out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew Schaefer #71 signs autographs for fans following the New York Islanders 2025 Development Camp at Northwell Health Ice Center at Eisenhower Park on June 30, 2025 in East Meadow, New York. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cAlready, he does it,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cSo you can tell that he has that offensive club in his bag.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The one thing Schaefer needs to do between now and September, he says, is add more muscle to his 17-year-old frame. <\/p>\n

Though Schaefer said he doesn\u2019t have a specific goal as far as adding pounds, he\u2019s on a meal plan that should help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew Schaefer takes part in practice during the Islanders 2025 Development Camp in East Meadow, N.Y. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s how I feel with a lot of strength,\u201d Schaefer said. \u201cIf I\u2019m 190 [pounds] but I\u2019m jacked, that\u2019s pretty good. Obviously, I still want to be able to move and be mobile like how I\u2019ve been doing, so we\u2019ll see. Obviously, I want to get back in the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There may have been some half-joking attempts to recruit Matthew Schaefer from the Islanders\u2019 prospects who will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[5,122,3328,159,5190,5189,4,465,2905,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-109981","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-islanders","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-islanders","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-islanders","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkislanders","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-nhl-draft","16":"tag-patrick-roy","17":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114793116054015996","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}