Although there may be greater than a month remaining within the 2025-26 NHL common season, there may be one particular person award race that you could most likely wrap up and cease discussing. It’s the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the 12 months) race, and it ought to belong to New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
It’s his. Take it to the financial institution. Set it in stone. Write it in ink. Some other cliche you wish to use right here, apply it. He’s going to win it. As he ought to.
The one query that ought to stay is whether or not or not anyone else on this rookie class may even wrestle a first-place vote away from him. It’s onerous to make an argument for why anyone ought to.
Matthew Schaefer is working away with Calder Trophy race
It’s not that it is a unhealthy rookie class. As a result of it fairly merely isn’t.
Between Ben Kindel (Pittsburgh Penguins), Beckett Sennecke (Anaheim Ducks), Ivan Demidov (Montreal Canadiens), Ryan Leonard (Washington Capitals), Oliver Kapanen (Montreal Canadiens) and Fraser Minten (Boston Bruins), there are lots of actually good, actually impactful first-year gamers who’ve helped their groups. It’s, objectively talking, a extremely robust group of rookies.
Nearly as good as that group has been, although, no one actually comes near matching the impression that Schaefer has made for the Islanders.
With two extra objectives on Sunday night time in a 5-4 win in opposition to the Florida Panthers, Schaefer is now as much as 18 objectives for the season and shutting in on the file for many objectives ever scored by a rookie defenseman. That mark at present sits at 23 objectives and belongs to former New York Rangers defenseman Brian Leetch.
Schaefer nonetheless has 21 video games remaining this season to prime it, and given his present tempo, he not solely appears on observe to take action, however he appears on observe to run circles round it.
He’s already one among simply 4 rookie defensemen to ever rating 20 objectives, becoming a member of a listing that features solely Leetch, Barry Beck and Dion Phaneuf.
What stands out about that record is the ages of the gamers concerned. All three of Leetch, Beck and Phaneuf have been 20 years previous of their rookie seasons.
Schaefer, the No. 1 total choose within the 2025 NHL Draft, is barely 18 years previous and has gone proper from junior hockey into the NHL. That kind of growth path is sort of unparalleled for a defenseman, particularly when it comes with this kind of fast impression.
It’s not simply the goal-scoring numbers that make him a direct star. It is usually the actual fact he’s enjoying the function of a No. 1 defenseman on a possible playoff crew, and in addition enjoying it exceptionally nicely.
Going into Sunday’s recreation, the Islanders were outscoring opponents by a 48-36 margin with Schaefer on the ice throughout 5-on-5 play. When he’s off the ice, they have been being outscored by a 63-70 margin. Most rookie defensemen, particularly at this age, get put into extremely sheltered roles the place they’re virtually hidden from any powerful minutes. The Islanders have executed the other and easily allowed Schaefer to play like a grizzled veteran. He’s not solely holding his personal for an 18-year-old; he’s fairly merely dominating.
Schaeffer has fully reworked their short-term expectations and long-term ceiling. All of that along with the person manufacturing makes him the runaway favourite for the Rookie of the 12 months.
