Elliotte Friedman was the last to praise Matthew Schaefer
Matthew Schaefer already is showing why he was the top pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. The The New York Islanders rookie was on his way to start his career in the league. He has yet to play an NHL game in which he failed to record a point.
Schaefer has now either scored or had an assist in each of his first five games with Shaw after drawing a helper on Anders Lee’s 3-3 tie in the second period of the Isles’ game Sunday against the Ottawa Senators on the road.
That assist paid off for the Islanders, as they cruised to a 5-4 victory at the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa.
Schaefer’s hot start to his NHL career has earned him a lot of attention and praise from the hockey world. Among those who spoke highly of the rookie’s incredible performance was NHL insider Elliot Friedman.
“The reason I’m going with Schaeffer is that an 18-year-old or 19-year-old defenseman shouldn’t be doing what he did right now,” Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast about the Islanders’ young star. choose for the most impressive start until the 2025-26 season.
“And they started, they didn’t win, they won a few games, and he’s not their best player, but he made an impact right away, and he breathed life into the franchise. So he’s at five games with points to start his career. That’s tied with Kyle McCar for second all-time. Anytime someone says he’s tied with Kyle McCar, that’s a pretty good summary.
“Really, what he’s done is he’s brought a great ray of sunshine to the New York Islanders. … He’s a presence, which sounds a little strange for a guy five games into his NHL career, but I think you (Kyle Bukauskas) are doing well.”
Schaeffer’s five-point streak is, too the second longest defenseman to begin his NHL career, according to ESPN’s Arda Okal. Only Marek Zidlicki had a longer streak of such points with Plavac, when he scored in six consecutive games in the 2003-04 campaign.
The 18-year-old Schaefer can match Zidlicki’s tally this Tuesday against the undefeated San Jose Sharks at UBS Arena in Elmont.
2025-10-20 16:39:00
