Matthew Schaefer begins his NHL career with his first Rookie of the Month award, the league announced on Saturday. He is the seventh player in franchise history to receive the honor.
The National Hockey League announced on Saturday that New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer was named Rookie of the Month for October.
The first-overall pick in this year's draft has made an immediate impact on both ends of the rink. In addition to averaging 22:21 of ice time per game, he recorded three goals and five assists over his first 11 NHL games. Two of those goals were on the power play, tied with St. Louis Blues forward Jimmy Snuggerud for the most in the NHL among rookies.
The 18-year-old is also the second defenseman age 18 or younger to record eight points in their first 11 games, joining Phil Housley. He's the fourth 18-year-old defenseman to record three goals in a month, joining the Buffalo Sabres' Rasmus Dahlin, the Florida Panthers' Aaron Ekblad and the Minnesota Wild's Zach Bogosian.
Among all NHL defensemen, he is tied with New Jersey Devils blueliner Dougie Hamilton for the most power-play goals and tied for third in goals overall.
Schaefer becomes the seventh Islanders player and first defenseman in franchise history to receive the honor. The last recipient was forward Mathew Barzal, earning the award in January 2018. The full list includes forward sPat LaFontaine (March 1984), David Volek (December 1988), Trent Hunter (December 2003), Michael Grabner (February 2011) and current Islanders captain Anders Lee (Feb. 2015).