Islanders' Matthew Schaefer nominated for Calder Trophy as top NHL rookie
The Islanders' Matthew Schaefer skates during the third period against the Ottawa Senators at UBS Arena on April 11, 2026. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Matthew Schaefer’s excellence was immediately apparent after the Islanders selected the defenseman first overall, initially at development camp, then during rookie camp and into the main training camp and through his record-setting rookie season. He met every challenge in becoming one of the NHL’s brightest young stars.
On Tuesday, he was announced as one of three finalists for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie along with forwards Ivan Demidov of the Canadiens and the Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke, though Schaefer is considered the overwhelming favorite in voting conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.
General manager Mathieu Darche said during the Islanders’ breakup day on April 15 that hearing comments from colleagues around the league and even from new coach Pete DeBoer, who replaced Patrick Roy with four games remaining in the season, reinforced how special the 18-year-old is.
“It’s rare to see a young guy be like this all year,” Darche said. “He just got better and better. At the GM meetings in March, everybody came to talk to me about Matthew Schaefer. What Pete noticed was, ‘You guys got numb to him because you see him every day.’”
Schaefer led the Islanders in average ice time with 24:41 while notching 23 goals and 36 assists in all 82 games. He matched Hall of Famer Brian Leetch’s NHL record for goals by a rookie defenseman and his 59 points set a team record for a rookie defenseman. He played at least 20 minutes in 70 straight games to finish the season, the longest such streak in NHL history by a teenager.
The season fittingly ended with Islanders’ fans at UBS Arena chanting Schaefer’s name following a 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes on April 14.
“They recognize generational talent,” DeBoer said after the match.
Sennecke, selected third overall in 2024, had 23 goals and 37 assists in 82 games while Demidov, picked fifth overall in 2024, had 19 goals and 43 assists in 82 games.
Still, Schaefer will almost certainly become the sixth Islander to win the Calder after a trio of Hall of Famers in Denis Potvin (1974), Bryan Trottier (1976) and Mike Bossy (1978) as well as Bryan Berard (1997) and Mathew Barzal (2018). Schaefer would be the third Islanders defenseman to earn the award after Potvin and Berard.
“It would be a dream come true,” Schaefer said during breakup day. “Just the names that won that award and there’s so many talented players in this rookie draft class.”
Thompson promoted
Rocky Thompson has been promoted to Islanders assistant coach after one season as the head coach of their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport (which will relocate to Hamilton, Ontario next season). Thompson, 48, went 34-30-8 as Bridgeport reached the AHL playoffs for the first time since 2022. Thompson spent the previous three seasons as a Flyers assistant coach under John Tortorella before joining the Islanders’ organization. Thompson replaces Benoit Desrosiers, who was recently relieved of his duties.
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.
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