Andrew Gross: Islanders, figuring in Matthew Schaefer, came out ahead in Noah Dobson deal
Matthew Schaefer, left, of the Islanders celebrates with teammates after scoring his second goal of the night against the Canadiens on Thursday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC. Credit: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images/Vincent Ethier
MONTREAL — This easily could have been about Noah Dobson and what the Islanders have missed since trading him away. But then Matthew Schaefer happened, as it has so often in his wondrous rookie season. This time he scored two record-setting goals in the span of 55 seconds in the second period.
Having Schaefer makes it easier to overcome not having Dobson.
And the draft addition of the presumptive Calder Trophy winner must be factored in when dissecting the deal that sent Dobson to the Canadiens for Emil Heineman and two first-round picks in the offseason. And why the Islanders may yet wind up winning a trade they should have lost, given that Dobson was the best player involved.
He staked the Canadiens to a two-goal lead on Thursday night, but Schaefer’s ability to alter the course of a game sparked the Islanders to a 4-3 overtime win at Bell Centre as they resumed their season after the three-week Olympic break.
“Look, the kid is an absolute stud,” Anders Lee, playing in his 900th NHL game to tie Bobby Nystrom for the sixth most in Islanders history, told Newsday after his six-on-five goal with 1:41 left in regulation forced overtime. “He’s a special hockey player. He has that ability to change a hockey game and he did that tonight.”
Schaefer has 18 goals in his 59 NHL games, surpassing Denis Potvin’s team record for rookie defensemen and Phil Housley’s NHL record for an 18-year-old defenseman. He matched those marks with a five-on-three power-play goal at 17:56 of the second period, then moved past the two Hall of Famers at 18:51 as he displayed just about every offensive superpower he possesses, skating up the left wing and around the crease to the top of the right circle, then spinning around to shake off one last defender before shooting.
“That second goal, what I loved about it, he could do circles all day,” Lee said. “But he decided at some point, ‘I’m going to bring this puppy to the net,’ and that’s what he did. I love that from him.”
“I didn’t think we shot enough early on in the game,” Schaefer said. “When you put pucks on the net, great things happen.”
And that, too, is what makes Schaefer special. He has all these superlative hockey skills, but he has the hockey IQ to match them. It’s a simple concept of constantly looking to exploit holes in the defense. Not every player does it.
“I’ll never doubt his IQ,” coach Patrick Roy said. “The ability to find those shooting lanes and manage to, when you jump in, bring pucks to the net. It’s impressive, I won’t lie.”
“There’s no right word,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau, whose overtime winner improved the Islanders to 7-0 in the extra periods this season, said when asked about Schaefer. “We’re lucky to have the chance to experience it by his side and be his teammate and to watch his game grow. He’s so mature for 18 years old.”
More than the records, Schaefer’s heroics came at a crucial time for the Islanders as they tied it at 2 after Dobson scored in the first period off an odd-man rush after a terrible line change and on the power play in the second period.
The Islanders simply looked twice as rusty as the Canadiens, with their top line of Mathew Barzal and Olympians Bo Horvat (Team Canada) and Ondrej Palat (Czechia) looking the most out of sync.
Trading away a defenseman with Dobson’s playmaking and skating skills usually is not advisable.
And Dobson, who has 12 goals, has been exactly what the Canadiens hoped for when they quickly signed him to an eight-year, $76 million contract after the June 27 trade.
Initially, trading Dobson evoked the bad memories of former president/general manager Lou Lamoriello sending defenseman Devon Toews to the Avalanche for two second-round picks in 2020. That deal, too, was financially motivated as Lamoriello wanted the salary-cap space to re-sign Barzal. Plus Dobson was emerging at that time.
But Heineman’s development into a top-six wing in his second NHL season, along with right wing Victor Eklund and defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson surprisingly dropping to the Islanders at Nos. 16 and 17, have evened the deal.
Plus general manager Mathieu Darche knew all along he was selecting Schaefer with the first pick.
Edge: Islanders.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
