NHL EDGE stats: Schaefer making immediate impact for Islanders
NHL.com’s fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at the early prowess of rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
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Matthew Schaefer is making an immediate impact for the New York Islanders early on in his rookie season and ranks near the top of the charts in various NHL EDGE stats categories.
Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, leads all rookies in points (15) and all defensemen in the NHL in goals (seven) this season. With his overtime goal against the Utah Mammoth on Friday, Schaefer became the youngest player (18 years, 70 days) in NHL history to score a regular-season overtime goal, overtaking Sidney Crosby (18 years, 101 days) and became the third-youngest player in the past 80 years to score a goal in consecutive games, as well as the youngest defensemen in NHL history to achieve the feat.
Schaefer became the youngest such defenseman (18 years, 34 days) to play an NHL game and the fourth 18-year-old in history to have points in each of his first six games, joining Wayne Gretzky (1979-80 with the Edmonton Oilers), Alexandre Daigle (1993-94 with the Ottawa Senators) and Sidney Crosby (2005-06 with the Pittsburgh Penguins). On Nov. 2 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Schaefer became the youngest defenseman in NHL history with a multi-goal game, a mark that was previously held by Boston Bruins defenseman Bobby Orr (18 years, 248 days) on Nov. 23, 1966.
Schaefer has played over 25 minutes in six of his 18 games this season, and leads all rookies in ice time per game (22:37; leads team) and is tied with Artyom Levshunov of the Chicago Blackhawks for the most assists by an NHL rookie this season (nine each). Schaefer, who has two power-play points in his past three games, is tied for first among all defensemen in the NHL in power-play points (seven). In terms of games played (12), he was the fastest defenseman that was selected No. 1 overall to reach 10 career points. With the Islanders (10-6-2, 22 points) on a four-game winning streak and three points back of first place in the Metropolitan Division, here are three underlying reasons behind Schaefer’s early prowess and rapid rise to the top of the Calder Trophy race:
1. Skating speed
Schaefer leads all defensemen in the entire NHL in 20-plus mile per hour speed bursts (65) and is tied with Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche and Jake Sanderson of the Ottawa Senators for the second-most 22-plus mph bursts (five), two behind Erik Karlsson of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Schaefer reached his max skating speed (22.93 mph) of the season against the Hurricanes on Oct. 30, tied for the ninth-highest mark among NHL defensemen.
