After Matthew Schaefer pulled the blue-and-orange sweater over his head on the NHL draft, his eyes already glistening with tears, he glanced down at his left shoulder and noticed a pink ribbon.
The image of breast most cancers consciousness was the New York Islanders’ tribute to his mom, Jennifer, who died of the illness simply 16 months in the past.
The No. 1 choose kissed the ribbon and modestly pointed to the sky, paying a poignant tribute to the girl who raised this boy into the person he’ll quickly grow to be — and who will accompany him on each step of his vivid hockey future.
The Islanders chosen the gifted 17-year-old defenseman first general Friday night time, kicking off an NHL draft with a wonderful second felt throughout the breadth of the game.
“I appreciate you taking a chance on me,” Schaefer stated in a video convention name with the Islanders’ entrance workplace. “I promise I won’t disappoint, but especially I just want to say to my mom and all my family and friends, thanks for everything.”
Excessive-scoring ahead Michael Misa went second general to the San Jose Sharks, and the Chicago Blackhawks took Swedish ahead Anton Frondell third on the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
The Islanders maneuvered their manner into three picks within the high 17, however they shocked no one by utilizing their first No. 1 choice since 2009 on Schaefer. The 6-foot-2 blueliner from Hamilton, Ontario, with distinctive puck-moving skill and powerful defensive expertise spent the previous two seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters, rising into an irresistible selection for the highest choose.
Schaefer persevered by means of tragedy to achieve this second. Together with the lack of his mom, he additionally endured the latest deaths of the Otters’ proprietor, Jim Waters, and the mom of his billet household.
The Islanders added the ribbon patch to the ceremonial jersey particularly for Schaefer, alongside together with his mom’s initials on the sweater collar.
“Seeing the ribbon on my jersey, and I saw a picture, it has J.S. on my back here,” Schaefer stated. “You can see just how high-class the organization is. It really means a lot. I wish my mom could be here today. Obviously, she’s with me here in spirit. … Cancer sucks, and it’s not fun. She didn’t feel the best, but she was always the happiest in the family. She would do anything for us.”
Schaefer scored 22 factors whereas enjoying in solely 17 video games final season earlier than breaking his collarbone in December. His acumen on each ends of the ice nonetheless propelled him to the highest of almost all draft boards.
Schaefer is simply the fifth defenseman picked No. 1 general within the NHL draft since 2000, and the primary since Owen Energy went to Buffalo in 2021. Schaefer is also the second Erie product to go No. 1, becoming a member of Connor McDavid in 2015.
“First and foremost, we drafted him because he’s an unbelievable hockey player,” Isles normal supervisor Mathieu Darche stated. “Obviously, the human being is exceptional. (For) a 17-year-old to have that resilience, maturity with everything that he’s gone through is beyond impressive, honestly. I haven’t met many 17-year-old kids that act like him. But at the end of the day, we’re drafting him because he’s a hell of a hockey player.”
Schaefer acquired two new teammates when the Islanders used the sixteenth choose on Swedish ahead Victor Eklund and nabbed defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson with the seventeenth choice.
Each Pennsylvania groups additionally have been busy in Los Angeles. The Philadelphia Flyers grabbed ahead Porter Martone sixth general earlier than buying and selling up for the twelfth choice to get ahead Jack Nesbitt, whereas the Pittsburgh Penguins maneuvered up and down the draft to regulate three picks within the high 24, swinging two trades whereas drafting forwards Benjamin Kindel, Invoice Zonnon and William Horcoff.
Misa tore up the OHL final season because the captain of the Saginaw Spirit, scoring 62 objectives and 134 factors in simply 65 video games. Whereas sporting a teal jersey for the primary time, he repeated his want to play within the NHL subsequent season if he can crack the roster of a struggling Sharks group that selected Will Smith fourth general in 2023 and acquired heart Macklin Celebrini with the primary general choose a 12 months in the past.
“He’s an ultra-competitive kid who’s been playing up a level, up a birth year his whole life,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said about Misa. “He wants to be the best. He wants to play against the best, so I’m sure this is what he wants to do, but you know we’re not going to hand him anything. He’s got to come into training camp and try and take a job.”
Frondell excelled as a 17-year-old ahead final season with Djurgården in Sweden’s second division, exhibiting off a two-way recreation that allowed him to push Misa on some draft boards. At 6-2, he might present a big complement to Connor Bedard.
Frondell is the eighth Swedish participant to be a top-three choice, becoming a member of elite firm together with Victor Hedman, Mats Sundin and the Sedin twins.
Middle Caleb Desnoyers went fourth to the Utah Mammoth, who moved up 10 spots within the draft lottery.
The Nashville Predators selected bodily ahead Brady Martin with the fifth choose earlier than buying and selling up for the twenty first choice to get Kitchener defenseman Cameron Reid. Martin skipped the draft, staying house on his household farm in Ontario.
Followers of the host Los Angeles Kings contained in the theater acquired fired up for his or her membership to make the twenty fourth choice — which the Kings promptly traded to Pittsburgh for the thirty first and 59th alternatives, prompting groans from the gang. Los Angeles ultimately selected defenseman Henry Brzustewicz from the Memorial Cup champion London Knights basically supervisor Ken Holland’s first choice for his new crew.
The Penguins created nearly all of the surprises within the first spherical, first by selecting Calgary Hitmen heart Kindel with the eleventh choose — a lot greater than many prognosticators anticipated.
Pittsburgh then traded the twelfth choose, which initially belonged to the New York Rangers, to Philadelphia for the twenty second and thirty first picks. The Flyers wished the 6-foot-4 Nesbitt, a fast-rising heart from the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires final season.
The Penguins additionally gave a second-round choose to the Kings and swapped first-rounders so they might transfer up for Horcoff — the son of NHL veteran Shawn Horcoff — with the twenty fourth choose.
The Anaheim Geese took an opportunity on ahead Roger McQueen with the tenth choice. The 6-foot-5 McQueen is extensively thought to have sufficient expertise to grow to be an elite heart, however the Saskatchewan native has been slowed by a again harm that scared off some groups.
Two goalies have been chosen within the first spherical for the primary time since 2021 and solely the third time in 13 years. Columbus grabbed Russia’s Pyotr Andreyanov with the twentieth choose, making him the highest-picked European goalie in fourth years, whereas San Jose added goalie Joshua Ravensbergen with the thirtieth choice.
The Boston Bruins used the seventh general choose on Boston School heart James Hagens, the consensus high prospect for this draft a 12 months in the past.
Hagens, a Lengthy Island native coveted by many Islanders followers, slid down the board simply sufficient to achieve the Bruins, whose choose was introduced by a video of Adam Sandler in character as Completely happy Gilmore, full together with his signature Bruins jersey.
“I’m so excited to be back in Boston, and to have Adam Sandler make the pick, that was special,” stated Hagens, who cites “Happy Gilmore” as his favourite film. “I love to win, and I’m really glad that I’m in Boston.”
The Islanders gained the lottery to choose first in a draft that’s filled with expertise — whereas lacking a couple of staples of latest drafts.
There was no prohibitive lock of a No. 1 choose on this discipline, in contrast to the previous two drafts, though Schaefer clearly got here out on high.
The draft additionally lacked the centralized construction that has lengthy been a staple of this annual train. The 32 groups’ numerous executives are principally at house, not strewn throughout the draft ground. The vast majority of the picks have been taken to a video room simply behind the stage to trade televised pleasantries with their new entrance places of work by means of video conferencing.
Whereas opinions of the brand new format appeared largely destructive from tv viewers and followers, many hockey executives praised the format afterward.
