The New York Islanders are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night. While a defeat on home ice is never an enjoyable experience for fans, they did witness history with their rookie phenom, as Matthew Schaefer continues the historic start to his career.
According to Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News, Schaefer became just the fourth 18-year-old defenseman to amass eight or more points in consecutive months. He joins Rasmus Dahlin in 2019, Aaron Ekblad from 2014-2015, and Phil Housley from 1982-1983. Ekblad and Housley would extend their streaks to three consecutive months.
In the first period against the Bruins, Schaefer would be credited with an assist on a Mathew Barzal goal, giving him his eighth point of the month of November. It would be the only goal of the night for the Islanders in the 3-1 final.
Schaefer was the first overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft and was invited to camp, with the idea that the front office would evaluate the young talent early in the season.
“It's funny because all summer I kept telling his agent, ‘You know what, let's stay open-minded here, he only played 17 games last year, the option of going back to junior is still there,'” Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche told the NHL's @TheRink podcast earlier this week.
“From the start, my mind was ‘let's bring him to camp, he's going to play preseason games, he's going to play at the start of the season, we'll evaluate from there.'”
The rookie blue liner did not take long to impress the front office. He started his career with points in his first six games, ending the month of October by finding the back of the net three times and dishing out five assists. The success continued in November. Schaefer started the month with a two-goal game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He now has four goals and four assists this month.
It's safe to say that Schaefer will not be going back to playing junior hockey anytime soon. Instead, he's part of a New York team that is making a legitimate playoff push in 2025-26.
The Islanders are 13-9-2 on the campaign, sitting tied for third in the Metropolitan Division. Schaefer will get a chance to tally his ninth point of November on Friday as the Isles host the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena.
