{"id":504503,"date":"2026-03-15T09:52:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T09:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/504503\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T09:52:01","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T09:52:01","slug":"adding-at-the-deadline-infuses-already-confident-islanders-with-even-more-belief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/504503\/","title":{"rendered":"Adding at the deadline infuses already confident Islanders with even more belief"},"content":{"rendered":"

EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Matthew Schaefer magic<\/a> already had the New York Islanders believing they could exceed preseason expectations and make the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Acquiring Brayden Schenn at the NHL trade deadline<\/a> after adding a couple of veteran depth players in January has only added to the good vibes around the team. First-year general manager Mathieu Darche<\/a> \u201cwanted to give a little push\u201d by going out and getting Schenn, fellow Stanley Cup winner Ondrej Palat<\/a> and depth defenseman Carson Soucy<\/a>, and it might be the nudge the Islanders need to not just get in but go on a run.<\/p>\n

\u201cMathieu, all he wanted was to reward the players,\u201d coach Patrick Roy said Thursday. \u201cThe guys played so hard and played so well to give ourselves the best chance possible to make the playoffs. There\u2019s no guarantee. You have to play the games. But I\u2019m sure the players appreciate the moves that he made, and looking at the way we\u2019ve been playing, I think our players deserve it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

After missing the playoffs a year ago and winning the draft lottery to get the chance to select Schaefer<\/a> with the top pick, the Islanders looked to be in rebuilding mode \u2014 not quite a contender but with the ingredients to get there.<\/p>\n

Instead, the 18-year-old defenseman has been a revelation, giving a franchise more than four decades removed from the 1980s dynasty days the kind of energy perhaps not seen in hockey on Long Island since. Schaefer needs just four goals over the final 17 games to break the NHL rookie defenseman record of 23 set by Hall of Famer Brian Leetch in 1988-89.<\/p>\n

Schaefer\u2019s presence<\/a> was a big reason Schenn waived his no-trade clause and left St. Louis.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an incredible, incredible guy,\u201d Schenn said. \u201cHe really cares about his teammates. He really cares about the organization. He wants to win hockey games. People obviously see the skill and everything that he does on the ice, but it\u2019s more so how impressed I am with how he is as a guy off the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schenn already showed what kind of guy he is. In his first game with his new team, he wasn\u2019t thrilled with the San Jose Sharks taking some liberties with Schaefer and was quick to confront them about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just brings life to us knowing that a guy like that has got our back and we\u2019ve got his,\u201d center Bo Horvat said. \u201cHaving that veteran presence on the ice, off the ice, I think is going to be great for us coming down the stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schenn hoisted the Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019<\/a>. Palat helped Tampa Bay win it<\/a> back to back in 2020 and \u201921<\/a>, and Darche has rings from those title runs as assistant GM of the Lightning.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no coincidence, then, that the Islanders made deals for proven winners who can show Schaefer and younger teammates the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to be surrounded with good players to help them, guide them through those steps as they progress in their career, and that\u2019s what we did with those acquisitions,\u201d Darche said. \u201cYou can only gain experience by living it. We want to make the playoffs this year. We want our younger guys to experience that. Having players that have been through it definitely helps those young kids (know) what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schenn, especially, also fills a big role down the stretch. His addition allows Calum Ritchie to shift from center to wing and take some pressure off the 21-year-old in his first NHL season.<\/p>\n

Darche said it was \u201call about having options.\u201d Roy now gets to experiment with different lineup constructions and find what works best.<\/p>\n

Schaefer has been having a blast all along.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always know when it\u2019s time to work, but we always can have a little bit of fun and things like that, too,\u201d Schaefer said. \u201cWinning and you know that your teammates and the coaching staff and everyone here helps when everyone\u2019s so close and always having fun and happy and things like that, it makes it fun to come to the rink.\u201d<\/p>\n

The arrival of Schaefer and Ritchie with more top prospects on the way \u2014 and not traded away \u2014 make the organization\u2019s future look bright. Center Mathew Barzal, who turns 29 in May, said he appreciates Darche making the kind of aggressive deals that make it feel like the future is now to chase the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cDarchie sees opportunity here and he wants to win and everybody wants to win,\u201d Barzal said. \u201cSchaef\u2019s 18 and he\u2019s going to have 20 years, and I\u2019m sure he\u2019s going to hoist it one day. Why not do it a few times, and do it earlier than later? It was nice from Darchie to get a few guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 Matthew Schaefer magic already had the New York Islanders believing they could exceed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[3669,1287,12136,5901,5,122,1951,2595,374,285,3328,7763,159,5190,5189,4,292,1768,2905,43],"class_list":["post-504503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-islanders","tag-bo-horvat","tag-brayden-schenn","tag-brian-leetch","tag-carson-soucy","tag-hockey","tag-islanders","tag-mathew-barzal","tag-mathieu-darche","tag-matthew-schaefer","tag-national-hockey-league","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-islanders","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkislanders","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-hockey","tag-ondrej-palat","tag-patrick-roy","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116232581485822834","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504503","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=504503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}