Matthew Schaefer is ready for the jump to professional hockey.
The No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft will be on the New York Islanders‘ opening-night roster and is set to make his regular-season debut Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
General manager Mathieu Darche said Schaefer earned the spot after an impressive training camp.
“He had a great camp. I mean, you saw it all,” Darche told reporters Monday. “His skating abilities, but just the way overall he’s conducted himself in practice, the way he works in practice, the way he played in those games, and he got better as camp went on.”
The 18-year-old appeared in four exhibition pre-season games, averaging over 22 minutes per contest while recording two assists, eight shots on goal and four hits.
Schaefer has been skating on the Islanders’ third defensive pairing with veteran Scott Mayfield.
Whether Schaefer will remain with the team for the entire season remains to be seen, as the club has nine games to decide whether to re-assign him to the OHL or keep him in the NHL and burn a year off his entry-level deal.
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