Matthew Schaefer is already showing why he was the top overall pick at the 2025 NHL Draft. The New York Islanders' rookie has been on a roll to start his career in the league. He has yet to play a game in the NHL in which he failed to record a point.
Schaefer has now either scored a goal or registered an assist in each of his first five games in The Show after dishing out a helper on an Anders Lee score that tied the score at 3-3 in the second period of the Isles' game on Sunday against the Ottawa Senators on the road.
That assist paid off for the Islanders, as they came away with a 5-4 victory at Canadian Tire Centre 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've spoken highly of the rookie's incredible showing is NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.
“The reason I'm going with Schaefer is that 18-year-old or 19-year-old defensemen are not supposed to do what he has done right now, Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast about the Islanders young star being his pick for having the most impressive start to the 2025-26 season.
“And they started off, they didn't win, they won a couple of games, and he's not their best player, but he has made an immediate impact, and he has breathed life into the franchise. So he's at five games with points to start his career. That ties Cale Makar for second place all-time. Any time that someone says ties to Cale Makar, that's pretty good for your resume.
“Really, what he's done is bring a bright ray of sunshine to the New York Islanders…He is a presence, which sounds kind of odd for a guy five games into his NHL career, but I think you're [Kyle Bukauskas] bang on.”
Schaefer's five-game point streak is also the second-longest ever by a defenseman to begin his career in the NHL, according to Arda Ocal of ESPN. Only Marek Zidlicky has had a longer such point streak by a blueliner, when he scored in six consecutive games in the 2003-04 campaign.
The 18-year-old Schaefer can tie Zidlicky's mark this Tuesday against the winless San Jose Sharks at the UBS Arena in Elmont.
