When Matthew Schaefer gets the puck, the Islanders’ crowd has a reason to lean in.
The 19-year-old defenseman keeps showing why he was viewed as a franchise-changing selection for New York. His skating and stick-handling already make him one of the league’s most dangerous blue-liners, and the scary part is that he’s still getting better.
That was on display October 10th against the Tampa Bay Lightning at UBS Arena. Schaefer took a pass at the blue line, slipped around a defender to open up room, and put a puck on net. Jean-Gabriel Pageau got the touch on it, and the goal cut Tampa Bay’s lead in half to make it a 3-2 game midway through the second period.
That kind of play is what Schaefer does best: create space where there doesn’t seem to be any. His edge work stands out immediately. When he decides to separate from a forechecker or maneuver at the blue line to find a passing or shooting lane, he can manufacture room the way Nathan MacKinnon does.
MacKinnon does it with explosive straight-line speed, the kind that lets him cover about 20 feet and blow past almost anyone once he gets his feet moving. Schaefer doesn’t have that same top-end speed, but not many players do. What he does have is the ability to make the ice feel bigger once the puck is on his stick.
There’s also a Cale Makar comparison in the way Schaefer can work the blue line, and that’s no small thing given the company. He looks comfortable navigating the line, finding angles, and keeping pressure on the defense.
The production is backing up the eye test, too. Schaefer still hasn’t scored a goal this season, but he does have four assists in five games.
The Islanders, meanwhile, were 2-3 at the time of submission and sitting in the kind of one-win, one-loss rhythm that needs to change if they’re going to push toward the playoffs. There are still 79 games left, but the margin for error will shrink fast.
For now, the message is simple: when Schaefer has the puck, something usually happens. At 19, with elite hockey IQ and a game that keeps expanding, he looks every bit like the kind of player the Islanders can build around.
In Other News...
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Mathew Barzals road back from a knee injury has been a long one, but an unexpected moment on live television gave the Islanders forward a boost he probably did not see coming. During an appearance on Fox & Friends, Barzal was surprised by Tommy Ryan, a fan whose connection to the team and to Barzal goes back to Ryans hospitalization, when he credited the Islanders for helping him get through leukemia treatment.
The relationship has grown from there, including a previous meeting at UBS Arena, and Ryans presence clearly hit home for Barzal as he continues working his way through recovery. For a player trying to navigate the patience and grind of coming back, finding motivation in the story of a fan who drew strength from him in the first place is a reminder that these ties can run both ways. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Schaefer Is Giving Islanders Fans A Massive Reason To Believe
At 19, Matthew Schaefer is already logging a workload that would be notable for a veteran, let alone a rookie defenseman. The Islanders are trusting him with 25:26 of ice time per game, and even in a role that still leaves him with limited shorthanded duty, his influence has been obvious every night hes on the ice.
The numbers back up what the eye test suggests. Schaefers underlying profile includes a 54.9% expected goals share and 3.52 expected goals for per 60 minutes, markers of a player driving play rather than just surviving it. With that kind of start, it is easy to see why the conversation around him is already stretching far beyond this season and into the kind of upside that can reshape a blue line. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Got The Exact Boost They Needed In A Tight Win
Kyle Palmieri gave the Islanders exactly the kind of lift they had been waiting for in a 3-2 win over the Canucks, scoring twice and finishing the night with the deciding goal. It was the sort of timely contribution New York needed in a tight game, and it came with the added significance of Palmieri continuing to work his way back after ACL surgery, a process the team has been watching closely.
Matias Maccelli also fit neatly into the picture, scoring his first goal as an Islander and helping create the winner after getting moved up to the top line. Head coach Pete DeBoer praised both players afterward, pointing to Palmieris return and Maccellis motivation and performance as encouraging signs for a team looking for more reliable offense when the margins are thin. [Read more 🡒]