The Athletic Hockey Show - Islanders take Schaefer first overall at NHL Draft | Instant Reaction

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

Matthew Schaefer is officially Long Island bound as the New York Islanders selected the defenseman with the No. 1 pick in this year’s NHL Draft. Max, Corey, and Scott give their instant reaction to the pick.Hosts: Max Bultman and Corey PronmanWith: Scott WheelerExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Chris Flannery Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic hockey show prospect series. Hey, everybody, Max Bowman here alongside Corey Prondman and Scott Wheeler. The NHL draft is often running and it is official. The New York Islanders have taken Matthew Schaefer first overall. Yeah, no surprise and really not something that I think has been in question since dating back to November at the CHLUSA Prospects Challenge or showcase. it seemed to start then the conversation of maybe it's not Porter Merton, maybe it's not James Higgins, maybe it's Matthew Schaefer sort of started in late October into early November.

There was some buzz about it prior to the CHL USA series, but from that point on, it never seemed to really be in doubt for Matthew Schaefer. He was the best player there. He went back to the OHL for a couple of weeks and was the best player in the OHL or among the two or three best players in the OHL during that stretch with guys like Michael Misa and Nick Lardis who was lighting it up at that time as well. And then he goes off to the World Juniors and really stamps it and coming out of the world juniors, even with the injury and even with all of the time off that followed.

I never really got the sense from more than maybe one or two people that I spoke to over the course of the final few months, even as he was not playing hockey, I never really got the sense that it was in doubt. And even when people raised some of the questions that we've raised of, Maybe the sample size is too small, or maybe we need to wonder about his offense and just how much high-end offense we saw out of him as a 16-year-old. It always seemed like those were questions that people were throwing out there for the sake of asking the question, for the sake of going to the obvious question, which was sample size, or was his 16-year-old season before the Hohinkogretzky Cup where he was a top prospect, but he hadn't taken charge of the first overall conversation like he did in the fall. And then it always seemed to end there. You would always ask people, okay, well, would you take Michael Mesa because of those questions? And the questions always just seem to end at a question of not really. The consent, the overwhelming consensus was still Matthew Schaefer, really for the final two-thirds or even three-quarters of this season. And that never really seemed to relent. Then he goes off to the combine, blows everybody away in his interview process. Everybody starts to talk about him as, okay, maybe this kid's a captain material. Maybe this kid's the face of a, franchise. And I think that's what now the New York Islanders can feel confident that they're

getting is a legit number one first pairing D prospect, if all goes well, and also a phenomenal kid that everybody seems to love. Well, you alluded to it there at the end. I mean, the Islanders fans have had enough time to kind of brace for like and research Matthew Schaefer and see what they're getting here. But we've talked about some names. Maybe it's a Jake Sanderson. Maybe it's Amiro Haskinen. For those who maybe have not followed this blow by blow the whole way, what level of talent is Matthew Schaefer? I view him closer to the way that I viewed Mero Heiskenen, which was as a top five pick in that draft,

then where I was at on Jake Sanderson. Now, I've written a prospect I was wrong about article on Jake Sanderson, so I'm not the best voice to go back in the history books to say, oh, we need to trust where Scott was on Jake Sanderson. I had Jake Sanderson in the teams when he went fifth overall. But I think even as an NHL player, even knowing what we know of Jake Sanderson now and where Miro Heiskenen is now, I think the consensus among Scouts is that, A, that Mero Heiskenen is the better player. And I think the consensus among scouts

is that in terms of sealing, that Schaefer has a higher ceiling at the same age than Sanderson did. Now, there are some similarities. Both were younger kids in their draft class. Sanderson was a summer birthday. Obviously, Schaefer is even later than that as a September birthday. Both are high-end skaters, they both defend well. I just think there's more of a dynamic quality. I saw, I saw Schaefer go end to end and make plays and find the highlight reel this year in more ways than I did in Jake Sanderson's final year at the NTDP. So I think in terms of that the highest level that the two players have reached at the same age, I think we've seen a higher level at the same age out of Schaefer than we did out of Sanderson. And so I think you start to talk more about

more about that Heiskenen level, that true, true, not that Sanderson isn't a number one, but Heiskenen is one of the premium defensemen in the game. Corey, we typically see the number one pick in the NHL draft go straight into the NHL. But the exceptions that we've seen to that, like Owen Power was an exception to that. He did another year at college. And I wonder specifically with regard to the games Schaefer missed, the playing time he missed this year due to injury. Do you think we see him go right into the NHL or do we see him go that route and take an extra year? I think it's going to really depend how his camp goes.

One, I think he's a better player than Power was at the same age. That thing said, he's a nearly a full year younger than Power as well going into his draft. I mean, he's going to be 17 going into the draft turn 18, I think, in September or August. It's right around there. September. Yeah, that being said, he is a special, special athlete. And it would not surprise me at all if he's NHL ready, despite the missed games. I mean, he is a dynamic player.

His skating is clearly NHL caliber. He has NHL size. He's been healthy now for a little bit, so he's had time to train and get his body ready. It's not a slam dunk, but I mean, he's a legit number one overall pick, legit number one overall picks, which, you know, like a guy like that. Graspis Dahlene was, those guys are ready to play right away. So I wouldn't guarantee it, but I think the likely outcome is he's playing on the New York Islanders next fall. More to see Shakeout, but as of now, Matthew Schaefer, officially a New York Islander.

We're going to have a lot more coming to you through the rest of the night, so stick with us. We'll talk to you soon.