Islanders’ Matthew Schaefer showing no signs of rust after missing most of draft season

Expectations for first-overall picks are never low, but the New York Islanders‘ Matthew Schaefer could’ve been forgiven for a slow start.

The Hamilton, Ont. native broke his collarbone at the World Juniors last December, and was forced to miss the remainder of his final season with the OHL’s Erie Otters.

Impressively, the rookie defenseman hasn’t shown the least bit of rust so far in the NHL. Schaefer has a goal and four assists for five points in just five games played, putting him in a tie for the lead in scoring among rookies.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis to discuss just how good Schaefer has been for New York early on, and whether he projects as the next star blueliner in the NHL.

Steven Ellis: When you look at the way this season started, I don’t think anyone, especially myself, thought he’d be this good right away. He only played about 30 games total last year, so for him to come in here, thinking he’d be playing 26 minutes in his second game is kinda nuts. But the fact that he’s been so good for the Islanders, he’s had points in every single game so far, is incredible.

If you look at it, still the Islanders are not a great team. They had to really grind to go and beat the Ottawa Senators. They lost their first three games. They beat the Oilers, which was a really good effort from them. But overall, this felt like a situation where Schaefer’s been thrown into a lot more than I think he probably should have right away, but he’s showing no signs of slowing down. He’s looking great, he’s been the best Islander so far. Right now, he is the early Calder favourite.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…