#matthew-schaefer

#matthew-schaefer

The eighteen-year-old ice-hockey player Matthew Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 N.H.L. draft and a rookie defenseman for the New York Islanders, skated around the team's practice rink in East Meadow, on Long Island, the other day, pursued by a cameraman in a rolling office chair. Schaefer, who is six feet two, with a childlike face and fluffy brown hair, was shooting his first major TV commercial, for Nobull, an activewear brand; the objective was to show him training like a champ.

After 25 years in Los Angeles, Cheeseman said the opportunity to return east and help shape the future of the New York Islanders was irresistible. "The opportunity to come back and partner with Malkin and John Collins and John Ledecky and the great ownership group here to bring a cutback to Long Island is really the intriguing piece to me," Cheeseman said on Hockey Night in New York with Sean Cuthbert and Arthur Staple. "I like building. I like building opportunities."

It means a lot. It's a very historical franchise and you take a lot of pride in putting on the jersey every day. So to be in the same sentence as some of the greats that have come before us, it means a lot. It's extremely special. I'm very humbled and I couldn't do it without the great group of guys around me. It just means a lot.

Flashback to July 1, 2018. A day that will live in infamy in the hearts of NY Islanders' fans everywhere. The day John Tavares packed his bags, left Long Island for good, and signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Most fans can tell you where they were and what they were doing at the exact moment they heard the news that Tavares would not be re-signing with the Islanders.

When that No. 13 ping pong ball popped up on the night of the NHL Lottery, giving the NY Islanders the first pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Matthew Schaefer was the expected first overall pick. Also expected is that he'd be the cornerstone of the franchise, giving them an elite skating, play-making option along the blue line. Schaefer is among the leagues top young talents What was unexpected is that he'd become all of that in his first 21 NHL games.

I don't think Schaefer's going, right? I just don't think he's going. If you look at the defense from the 4 Nations, I think Team Canada is really happy with a lot of those guys that went.