Matthew Schaefer's agent believed one more year in Erie or the NCAA was the right call before joining the Islanders

It's hard to imagine that five months ago there were questions about whether Matthew Schaefer would be playing in the NHL this season. After playing 17 games in the OHL and two games for Canada at the World Junior Championship, the 2025 first overall pick at the NHL Draft broke his collarbone, ending his draft-year season.

Entering rookie camp, Schaefer had gone nine months without playing in a game. Though it seems unimaginable at this time, there were serious questions about whether he was ready for the massive step-up in competition. Even his agent, Pat Morris of Newport Sports, believed it would be wiser to return to the Erie Otters of the OHL, or perhaps take the college route.

Imagine Schaefer still playing junior hockey

"We said, 'You need more time,'" Morris told Merideth Turtis of Front Office Sports. "Matthew said, 'I'm going to play in the NHL this year. Forget those other things."

Flash forward 10 months from when the Islanders selected him first overall after 3.5% odds in the draft lottery, Schaefer has proven everybody wrong and has taken the NHL by storm, becoming one of the faces of the league at 18 years old.

Schaefer continues to shatter rookie and 18-year-old records. The defenseman tied Brian Leetch for the most goals in a season by a rookie defenseman with 23 (Leetch was 20 years old in his rookie season in 1989-90), and Sunday, passed Phil Housley (1982-83) for the most points by an 18-year-old defenseman (57), now with 59 on the season. That's just his most recent records, as he has been in the same breath as the great Bobby Orr for much of the season. Not to mention narrowly missing out on playing for Canada at the Olympics.

It's hard to imagine the number Schaefer would be putting up if he were still in the OHL or even the NCAA. But what he's doing in the NHL was just as unfathomable only a few months ago.