Approximately ten minutes after completing his inaugural practice with the Islanders, just two days after being drafted, and only a day since arriving via private jet at Farmingdale airport, Matthew Schaefer, amidst his third interview of the morning, made a single request.
“Can I sit down?” he asked.
It’s all gone so fast for this 17-year-old, there hasn’t been much time to do that lately.
To talk to Schaefer is to feel the big-time intersecting with his small world.
Amidst all the excitement, he watched a video from a draft celebration back home in Stoney Creek, Ontario, where his teachers were at an end-of-year party. They erupted with chants and cheers as Gary Bettman announced his name as the No. 1 pick.
At another, he opened his phone and had texts from Matthew Tkachuk and Connor McDavid. The thing still hasn’t stopped buzzing.
“I’ve responded to all my messages, [but] there are still many that are unanswered because as soon as I catch up, more keep pouring in,” Schaefer explained. “Hopefully, it will slow down soon. I’ve been attempting to reply to as many as I possibly can.”
Sunday night, Schaefer said, was the first time in a while he’d gotten a real, full night of sleep.
So there were no nerves when he got onto the ice wearing an Islanders sweater for the first time at development camp in front of a decent-sized crowd of fans that came out on a Monday morning for a glimpse of the franchise’s future.
There’s been so much going on, it’s almost easy to forget that Monday also doubled as Schaefer’s first formal practice — he’s worked out plenty in private — since breaking his clavicle at World Junior Championships two days after Christmas.
“I was smiling ear to ear the whole time, just to get back out there,” he said. “I’ve said this a lot: Hockey players don’t like watching. To get all the equipment on, play with other guys, getting out there was a big thing for me. Can’t wait. I just can’t wait to start working as hard as I can all summer so I make that opening night roster.”
And make no mistake: Now that Schaefer is here in New York, the goal is to stay.
“One hundred percent,” he said. “Obviously, the draft’s good fun, but put the work boots on. You want to play in the NHL, want to play as long as you can. For me, just getting my body ready, working as hard as I can, playing with NHL guys all summer, working hard, they’re gonna be pushing me. Being in that environment’s super big. I want to be on [the] opening night roster.”
Monday’s light practice offered few clues toward that end. It is rare, though, for a No. 1 pick not to start the season in the NHL, and going into the start of free agency Tuesday, the Islanders blue line looked ripe for Schaefer to grab a spot.
It won’t hurt, either, that he’ll be working this summer in a group that includes Adam Pelech and Isaiah George, with former Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano running things.
“We’ve been hanging out all summer this offseason,” George said. “He’s a really good kid, super humble, just the way he goes about his business is super professional. You wouldn’t realize he’s a first-round pick just with how humble and how down to earth he is. Really good guy, then obviously on the ice, [he] speaks for himself. Great skater; he’s got really good heads-up play. He’s really good.”
Once things inevitably calm down in Schaefer’s world, that’s the bottom line: The Islanders just got a really good hockey player.
“Getting drafted is nice, obviously — first overall is a huge honor — but you put that in the past,” he said. “Obviously, you can always think about it, but when you’re at camp and you’re at hockey, you put that behind you. You work as hard as you can, put your head down. Nothing’s given, so the work starts now. The real work starts now.”
