After scoring 20, will Islanders’ Matthew Schaefer score 30 as a rookie?
One of the most exciting players in the NHL is on pace to do something no freshman rearguard has been able to do.
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer has been making quite the first impression in the NHL. In the past week, has had a pair of multi-goal games, setting the record for the most goals by an 18-year-old defender, hitting the 20-goal mark on Sunday as well.
With five goals in his last five games, Schaefer is well on his way to breaking Hockey Hall of Famer Brian Leetch’s record of goals by a rookie defenseman (23), and could reach even greater heights.
On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton guess where the ceiling is for Schaefer.
Carter Hutton: Easy league. That was always the comment when we would say to a young kid who would come up and play and you’d just be like, ‘What an easy league.’ He makes it look good. It’s been unbelievable. I think just him even figuring it out, too. … He’s coming out of [the break[. He’s transitioned so well, too. So, I think just the learning curve is picking up for him, and his maturity as he goes. I think he’s learning on the fly. It’s been fun to watch his talent, his speed, his skating. Now to be at 20 goals at this point, like, where does he end up? Like, does he get to 30? There’s potential for that. It seems every second game he’s finding back in the net once or twice. So kudos to him, and the future looks bright for the NHL and for the New York Islanders.
Tyler Yaremchuk: He’s on pace right now for 27 goals on the season. I went and looked, Matthew Schaefer, born in 2007. Again, insane to be talking about a guy dominating the NHL who was born in 2007. If he were to get to 27 goals, that would be the fifth most productive season, goal-scoring-wise, by a defenseman in his lifetime since 2007. Like, that’s wild.
Carter: It is wild to think about, right? It’s like the production of where he was at, even as a kid, too. You look at his OHL numbers and what he was able to do to just translate that to the NHL. It is a different animal. I’ve made that conversation a lot with people to bring it up. Like everyone’s like, ‘Well, they go to the AHL. It doesn’t work out. The NHL is a different…like there’s a different kind of space. There’s a different kind of timing. It’s the adjustment of that not everyone can process at that speed, where sometimes those smaller leagues are a little more chaotic. It’s even harder to play. So, kudos to him, how he’s been getting it done. It’s unbelievable to watch. It’s got to be a lot of fun if you’re an Islanders fan, going to the rink every night and when you’re getting to see him.
You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…