The New York Islanders selected Erie (Pennsylvania) Otters defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft on June 27.
He’s the first defenseman to be taken first overall since the Buffalo Sabres selected Owen Power in 2021. He is also the first player from Erie to go No. 1 since the Edmonton Oilers chose Connor McDavid in 2015.
Schaefer established himself as the top prospect in the draft despite missing the last half of the season with a broken clavicle.
Here’s what to know about Matthew Schaefer, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft:
How old is Matthew Schaefer?
He is 17 and will turn 18 in September.
Matthew Schaefer height, weight
He is 6-foot-2, 183 pounds.
Where is Matthew Schaefer from?
He was born in Stoney Creek, Ontario. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Ontario Hockey League draft.
Matthew Schaefer has overcome adversity
Schaefer lost both his mother, Jennifer, his team owner, and his billet mother, Emily Matson, during the 2023-24 season. (Junior hockey players live with billet families in the cities where they’re playing.) Otters team owner Jim Waters died in 2024. Schaefer said the Otters and the hockey community were very supportive of him through his losses.
He has a photo of him and his mother inside his jacket.
‘I wish she could be there,’ he said of his mother during a June 26 media availability. ‘I think that’s the biggest thing I’ll be thinking about when I hear my name called, but I know she’ll be smiling down. I know she’s with me in spirit. I know my dad and brother will have some tears. I think I’m going to have some tears.’
He said if it rains on draft day, then his mother is crying, too.
Matthew Schaefer missed time with injury
He was playing in the world junior hockey championship in December when he crashed into the net and broke his clavicle. He needed surgery and missed the rest of the season. But his play beforehand and his two points in two games at the tournament led NHL Central Scouting to keep him as the top-ranked prospect.
He said the toughest part was not being there for his Canada teammates at the tournament, which was won by the USA, and his Erie teammates.
‘No hockey player (likes not) playing hockey, and watching it is a lot more stressful,’ he said. ‘I’m sitting there and I’m grabbing the desk, like the chair I’m on and I’m rocking and I’m trying to stand still. I just want to be out there.’
He said he’ll be ready to take part in development camp after the draft.
Matthew Schaefer stats
He had five goals and 17 assists in 17 games with the Otters before his injury. The previous season, he had 17 points in 56 games as he worked on the defensive side of his game. He got to show his offensive side this past season, he said.
Matthew Schaefer scouting report
Red Line Report’s Kyle Woodlief says Schaefer is one of the top defense prospects in the past five years.
‘Tremendous compete level, leadership and IQ,’ Woodlief wrote. ‘ He’s totally engaged from first puck drop and his engine never shuts off until the final buzzer. Defensively he does it all. Excellent coverage, blocks shots, initiates physical contact, wins puck battles and makes fantastic zone exits. His tremendous skating allows him to join, and often lead, the rush.’
How does Matthew Schaefer describe himself?
He joked that he’s a great singer and dancer but then called himself a two-way defenseman.
‘I can play all over the ice,” he said. “Power play, penalty kill, very competitive and loves to win. Off the ice, I love to talk, as you guys can tell. I’m a leader, but honestly, the fans mean a lot to me. If they want autographs or anything — which I don’t know why they’d want one really but if they do — and pictures, I love taking the time because they come out to support us so much.”