Macklin Celebrini’s new deal turned heads across the NHL, but for the New York Islanders, the contract that really matters is still out in front of them.
The San Jose Sharks locked up Celebrini on a five-year, $94 million extension with an annual average value of $18.8 million, a number that makes the 20-year-old the league’s highest-paid player. That kind of payday naturally invites comparisons to Matthew Schaefer, another young cornerstone talent. But the Islanders are looking at this through a different lens.
Celebrini is a franchise center fresh off a 115-point season, the third-highest point total by a teenager in NHL history. His contract sets the bar for elite offensive centers. It does not define the market for defensemen, and that’s the key distinction for New York.
The real reference points for Schaefer are the big-money deals that could come next for Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes. Both are eligible to become unrestricted free agents after the 2026-27 season, and if either signs an extension before then, that deal would almost certainly reshape the top of the defense market.
That’s the number the Islanders will have to watch.
Right now, Chicago’s Bowen Byram sits as the NHL’s highest-paid defenseman after signing a six-year deal worth $12.5 million per year, but that figure already looks like a placeholder. If Makar or Hughes gets to the finish line first, the ceiling for elite defensemen could jump again before Schaefer is eligible for his next contract after the 2027-28 season.
That’s when the real negotiation starts for the Islanders, unless general manager Mathieu Darche can get ahead of the curve and work out a framework with Schaefer’s camp as soon as an extension can be signed on Jul. 1 of next year. By then, the market should be clearer, and the Islanders will know how high the new standard for defensemen has climbed.
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Matthew Schaefer Just Entered A Franchise Player Debate Islanders Fans Crave
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Mike Johnson of NHL Network recently put Schaefer second on his list of ideal franchise starters, behind only Macklin Celebrini and ahead of names that usually dominate this kind of debate, including Connor McDavid, Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes. For Islanders fans, that kind of company says plenty about where Schaefer stands already, even with the second-season pressure about to rise around him. The next step is proving he can handle the spotlight that comes with that sort of respect. [Read more 🡒]