It may be inevitable that NY Islanders' rookie Matthew Schaefer is part of Team Canada at the Olympics

It’s mind-boggling that two months ago, the topic of conversation surrounding NY Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer was whether or not he’d spend the season playing in the NHL or return to the OHL. Now, at 18 years old and 33 games into his professional career, it’s nearly impossible that Canada can leave him off their Olympic roster.

Schaefer has changed the dynamic of this Islanders team overnight, going from a team that most predicted to miss out on the playoffs for a second consecutive season to a team that currently has the second-most points in the Eastern Conference. 

Schaefer is looking more likely to play in the Olympics

“I’ve been in hockey my whole life, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an 18-year-old come up and have the impact he has,” Ken Morrow, the Islanders Director of Pro Scouting, said yesterday. “I don’t want to put any more pressure on him. I don’t know if he feels a whole lot of pressure. He’s a special young man.”

Different media outlets across North America have been doing their best to predict these Olympic rosters, and now, just about all of them have Schaefer as part of Team Canada. 

Canada will likely take eight defensemen to Milan, and right now, it’s hard to find eight Canadian defensemen who are better than Schaefer. The rookie is currently fifth among Canadian blue liners in points (23) and third in goals (9). 

While Cale Makar will of course lead the Canadian blue line, quarterbacking the top power play unit, there’s no reason Schaefer can’t QB the second unit, even if he’s dressed as the seventh defenseman. Schaefer is tied for most power play points among Canadian defensemen (with Makar) with 10, and leads all NHL defensemen in PP goals with five. And it’s not as if he’s doing this on a potent power play. He’s doing it with a struggling unit that ranks 25th in PP%.

Rosters are due for the Olympics on New Year's Eve, giving Schaefer seven games to make his final push. 

Mathieu Darche made it clear that Schaefer wouldn’t be playing in the World Junior Championship, but Schaefer has his eyes on an even bigger tournament.