2025 NHL Draft: New York Islanders pick Matthew Schaefer 1st overall

After trading Noah Dobson, they hope the Erie standout will become a franchise defenseman.

To the surprise of no one, the New York Islanders selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer first overall in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Upon hearing the news at the decentralized draft in L.A., Schaefer, his dad and his brother had to hold back tears no doubt thinking of his late mother who played such a big role in his life. In a startling touch, the Isles had sewn a purple cancer awareness ribbon on the Isles jersey he unfolded to and put on on the draft stage.

A mobile, 6’2”, all-zone, all-phases left-shooting blueliner, Schaefer had increasingly become the consensus top prospect in the draft, and unquestionably the top defenseman, despite being limited by injuries and mono to only 17 OHL games in 2024-25. People love his character and poise, too, including his resilience and ability to talk about the loss of his mother to breast cancer — a story that will keep coming up in the post-draft coverage and through every big moment of his career.

The selection is particularly intriguing since the Islanders earlier in the day reached an agreement to trade their best young defenseman, Noah Dobson, to the Montreal Canadiens for the 16th and 17th overall picks in this draft.

One could’ve envisioned an outstanding blueline anchored by Schaefer and Dobson, but Dobson’s asking price — he reached an agreement on a $9.5M AAV long-term deal as part of the trade — and “not quite a #1” development with the Isles must’ve given new GM Mathieu Darche pause.

And Darche is apparently not the only Isles GM to look at trading Dobson, whose name came up in rumors under Lou Lamoriello, too.

Through one lens, this move could wreak of the ill-fated Milbury trade of Roberto Luongo to make room for Rick DiPietro a generation ago. But one difference is Schaefer’s ceiling is projected to be higher than Dobson’s, and of course Schaefer is expected to be NHL ready much sooner, perhaps as soon as this coming season.

So Darche has made a big move to kick off his tenure that could backfire, and what Darche does with those two additional picks will enter the equation. But hanging on to the #1 overall pick and selecting Schaefer was a no-brainer.