New York Islanders rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer is having one of the most unique starts to an NHL career.
Schaefer faced Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby in the team’s 4-3 season-opening loss on Thursday. Now, he’s poised to take on Alex Ovechkin when the Islanders play the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
The matchup will make Schaefer just the eighth player in NHL history to face the league’s active points leader (Crosby) and all-time goals leader (Ovechkin) in consecutive contests to begin a career, per Newsday’s Andrew Gross. It’s just the fourth such occurrence since 1930 and the first since 1960, per the league.
Schaefer, the first overall selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, notched an assist against the Penguins on a Jonathan Drouin first-period goal, becoming the youngest defenseman in NHL history to record a point in his debut at 18 years and 34 days old.
Hockey Hall of Famer and star New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks rearguard, Scott Niedermayer (18y, 46d), had previously held the distinction. Only four other skaters in league history were younger than Schaefer when they scored a point in their first career game.
“I’ve been emotional for weeks now. It just seems like I can’t stop crying, but I’m just happy for his success,” Schaefer’s father, Todd, told NHL.com’s Mike Morreale as he watched his son’s debut at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday. “I know how much he wants this, and I’m just so thrilled that he’s playing with confidence.”
Schaefer’s brother, Johnny, and 25 other friends and family were present for Thursday’s game and his history-making moment.
“[I] can’t even imagine for an 18-year-old kid the amount of nerves and the fact that he came out there and is doing – like the fact that he’s on the same surface as Sidney Crosby,” Johnny was heard telling his father in the suite while mic’d up for the league’s social media. “I’m just so happy for him.”
Schaefer will be looking to score his first NHL goal against the Capitals, and Washington head coach Spencer Carbery is well aware of the danger the rookie blueliner poses.
“Elite, elite, elite skater is what jumps off the page. To start with that as a foundation as a defenseman, you’ve got a pretty good start,” Carbery told reporters Saturday morning. “That was apparent in the Pittsburgh game, and there was a couple different instances where he could really showcase his agility, his quickness, lateral mobility, all that stuff. [His] strength and size, all that will come with the maturity as he develops in the NHL, but you can see he’s an elite, elite skater.”
The Stoney Creek, Ontario native recorded 22 points (7g, 15a) in 17 games for the OHL’s Erie Otters last year.
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