Matthew Schaefer's rookie season with the New York Islanders may have been one of the best in recent NHL history. Sometimes it's easier for a forward to enter the league and contribute in his first season, but it's rare for a defenseman to fit as seamlessly as Schaefer has. In his case, doing it as an 18-year-old is almost unheard of. He couldn't save Patrick Roy's job after a surprising firing on Easter Sunday, but it could be another notch in Schaefer's favor that the Islanders were desperate to pair him with a coach of Pete DeBoer's stature.

The Islanders wouldn't be anywhere near a playoff spot if it weren't for Schaefer and Ilya Sorokin. The team doesn't have much around either of those players, and if DeBoer can get New York the necessary points to steal one of the final two wild card spots, both Schaefer and Sorokin have to be up for some awards.

Schaefer is going to win the Calder Trophy regardless of making the postseason, but there's no reason why he wouldn't get some Norris or Hart Trophy votes with how big a difference he has made to the team. Sorokin will also get plenty of Vezina Trophy votes and maybe even some Hart Trophy recognition.

The Islanders saw the competitive window that Matthew Schaefer is opening up for them and pulled the trigger on hiring DeBoer. With the trajectory the defenseman is on, he might be one of the best players in the league by the end of next season, and he'll still only be 19. If we are going to get another 20 years of this from the Islanders' superstar rookie, there will be some legacy conversations about him over the next two decades.