Matthew Schaefer was named NHL Rookie of the Month for October. The 2025 NHL Draft top pick racked up three goals, five assists over his first 11 games while averaging 22:21 on ice per game, which led all rookies.
The New York Islanders defenseman is well on his way to defending that crown. The defenseman scored two goals in an unlikely come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets Sunday night at UBS Arena. His trying goal with 1:07 left in the third brought the crowd and the entire Islanders bench to it’s feet. 29 seconds later, they took the lead for good with a Simon Holmstrom goal. The win was the latest comeback win in franchise history.
Iron Schaef
The 18-year-old is the youngest defenseman in NHL history with a multi-goal game, passing Bobby Orr. He now leads all NHL defensemen with five goals and his ten points have him tied with Montreal Canadians forward Ivan Demidov for the rookie lead.
Schaefer is the NHL defenseman since former Islander Vladimir Malakhov back in 1992-93 to score five goals in their first 12 games. He is also the fastest defenseman who was selected first overall to reach 10 points, breaking Florida Panther Aaron Ekblad’s record of 15 games.
His first goal of the night came on the power play. His three tallies on the man-advantage are the third most all-time for an 18-year-old defenseman, trailing Phil Housley (10) and Rasmus Dahlin (5), while also tying the Islanders’ all-time power play goal record by an 18-year-old with Dave Chyzowski.
Schaefer is now just doing on the ice. His jersey and t shirt are flying off the Isles Lab shelves at UBS Arena. The store cannot keep up with demand. While walking around arena Sunday night I noticed that more than half of the jerseys worn by fans were of Schaefer. His personality is such a breath of fresh air to a franchise that has been stale for the past few years.
