The New York Islanders selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick at the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles.
Schaefer, who will turn 18 on Sept. 5, played for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League the past two seasons.
The 6-foot-2, 183-pound Hamilton, Ontario native was limited to 17 games with Erie last season after missing the first nine with mononucleosis and then breaking his right clavicle on Dec. 27 while playing for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships.
Schaefer was the second-youngest player on Canada’s World Junior roster, two months older than forward Gavin McKenna, who isn’t eligible until the 2026 NHL Draft.
The day before he was injured, Schaefer scored an empty-net goal and had an assist in Canada’s 4-0 victory against Finland in the tournament opener.
Schaefer lost his mother, Jennifer, to breast cancer in February 2024, two months after his billet mother, Emily Matson, died in an apparent suicide.
Despite having the 10th-best chance of winning the draft lottery at 3.5 percent, the Islanders landed the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft last month, the first time since drafting John Tavares No. 1 overall in 2009.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the first-round picks for the first time he took over the position in 1993. This year also marked the first time team staffs did not attend the draft, but rather participated from their home cities.
“The clubs asked for this,” Bettman said in February. “I wasn’t looking for any more exposure. I have more than enough. But this is what the clubs told us they wanted, and we’re going to try it. And we’ll see after this year whether or not everybody likes it better.”
–Field Level Media
