Matthew Schaefer found the goals, and now nothing is missing
The 19-year-old's overtime winner in St. Paul made history, and the Islanders are already playing him like a No. 1 defenseman.
The goals were the last thing missing, and now they're here. Matthew Schaefer is 19, he's already playing No. 1 defenseman minutes, and the overtime winner in St. Paul on Thursday was the night the scoring caught up to the rest of his game.
The line from the Islanders' 4-3 overtime win over Minnesota: two goals, an assist and a winner 33 seconds into overtime, on a 2-on-1 against Jesper Wallstedt. That made him the first teenage defenseman with three career overtime goals. It was also his fifth multi-goal game, which ties Phil Housley for the most by a teenage defenseman.
Here's the part I like more than the record. Schaefer went his first nine games this season without a goal, by our count. He's scored four in the four games since. The shots were always there, with 50 through 13 games per NHL data. The finishing just took a month to arrive.
The usage tells you what New York thinks of him. He's averaging 26:59 a night, third in the league among players with eight or more games, per NHL data. Only Zach Werenski and Quinn Hughes are playing more.
He logged 32:18 on Tuesday and about 30 minutes on Thursday. That's the workload you hand a veteran defenseman in April, not a second-year teenager during Halloween week.
Stock up: Schaefer, and it isn't close. He has 14 points in 13 games, tied with Bo Horvat for the team lead, and a six-game point streak with eight points in it. That matches his career-long streak from last season.
Last season set a high bar. He won the Calder unanimously, scored 23 goals to tie Brian Leetch's record for a rookie defenseman, and finished with 59 points. The sophomore question for any teenager is whether the league adjusts faster than he does. Through a month, the answer is no.
The read on the Islanders: they're 7-4-2, and the only real argument for them as a playoff team runs through a defenseman who can't legally rent a car. That's not a knock. That's the plan working. Ryan Pulock left Thursday's game early with an upper-body injury, and if he misses time, Schaefer's minutes go up again.
What I'd watch: his entry-level deal runs through 2027-28, so the extension conversation is coming sooner than Islanders fans want to think about. The kid's price is going up every week he plays like this.
"He's a heck of a player, for sure," Matt Boldy said after the game. Minnesota found that out the hard way.
