New York Islanders star rookie defenceman Matthew Schaefer is open to playing at the upcoming World Championships for Canada.
With Islanders’ season officially over as of Tuesday night, Schaefer said Wednesday morning at the team’s locker cleanout there will be further talks about the possibility of him playing in the tournament.
“I haven’t really talked about that much yet but definitely a possibility,” said Schaefer.
The Worlds starts a month from today on May 15 and taking place in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland.
The Islanders missed the playoffs this season after being firmly in the race for much of the season and Schaefer was a big reason for their success.
The 18-year-old stepped into the NHL after being selected first overall last June and scored 23 goals with 59 points in 82 games this season.
He became the youngest defenceman in NHL history to reach 50 career points on March 19 and on April 4, his 58th point of the season surpassed Phil Housley for most points by an 18-year-old defenceman.
However, despite adding the likes of Brayden Schenn, Carson Soucy and Ondrej Palat throughout the season, the Islanders faltered in the last month of the season, going 1-5 in April and a late coaching swap – Pete DeBoer replacing Patrick Roy as head coach – on Apr. 6 wasn’t enough to save New York’s season.
DeBoer will go into the 2025-26 as the Islanders’ head coach.
Schaefer is well decorated at the international level for Canada. In 2023, he captained Canada White to a gold medal and later that season, he won gold at the U18 World Championships. He added another gold medal at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
