Matthew Schaefer staring at record seemingly impossible to break

New York Islanders blueliner Matthew Schaefer has been nothing short of a phenom. In a single season, Schaefer blew past expectations of what a rookie defenseman could do.

He tied the single-season record for most goals by a rookie defenseman with 23. That was impressive enough. But it was even more impressive considering that he’s still only 18 years old.

If last season was any indication, Schaefer could be on track to become one of the NHL’s all-time great defensemen.

But as good as he could be, there’s a pretty good chance Schaefer won’t be good enough to break one record: Most points in a season by a defenseman.

The current record belongs to Boston Bruins great Bobby Orr. Orr set the mark in the 1970-71 season by scoring 37 goals and 102 assists for 139 points in 78 games.

That’s a record that seems impossible to break, especially in this era of NHL hockey. Orr played in a much different era, one that didn’t feature goaltending like we see today. In fact, that insane era of scoring is something unlikely to happen again.

But could there be a scenario in which Schaefer at least challenges Orr’s record? It’s possible, though it would require a confluence of events.

Islanders would need to become offensive powerhouse

Reaching 100 points is not an easy task for a forward, let alone a defenseman. For Schaefer to hit that mark, the Islanders would need to become an offensive powerhouse. The team would need to have a much more offense-centric approach, allowing Schaefer to do plenty of damage.

In particular, the Isles would have to annihilate the opposition on the power play. That would be the single-best source of scoring for Schaefer.

Now, it should be noted that reaching 100 points wouldn’t be ludicrous for Schaefer. That’s why challenging Orr’s record, with Schaefer’s skill set, is possible. However, with the way the Islanders figure to play in the coming seasons under Peter DeBoer, it might be a bit complicated for Schaefer to get enough offensive chances to even get to 100 points.

Schaefer could at least hit 100 points on his own

The last time a defenseman hit the century mark in points was Erik Karlsson with the San Jose Sharks in the 2022-23 season. The mark was impressive, especially since Karlsson was playing on a last-place team.

But that was the thing. Since the Sharks weren’t really expected to do anything that season, the team could afford to let Karlsson play 25 or 26 minutes a night without actually playing any defense.

That philosophy translated for the last 100-point season by a defenseman.

So, does that mean that DeBoer should just throw Schaefer over the boards and let him do whatever he wants? No, but it does point towards allowing the Islanders’ franchise blueliner a lot of leeway.

If DeBoer is comfortable with throwing Schaefer out there for 25 minutes a night without actually forcing him to become a defensively responsible defenseman, it might just work.

That’s not likely to happen. That’s why expecting something like 70 to 90 points from Schaefer might be the ideal target moving forward.

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