21 Facts Behind Islanders Defenseman Matthew Schaefer’s Calder Trophy-Winning Season

(Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images)

New York Islanders rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer was named the 2025-26 Calder Trophy winner on Wednesday.

Schaefer became:

• The sixth Islanders player to win the Calder: Mathew Barzal (2018, Bryan Berard (1997), Mike Bossy (1978), Bryan Trottier (1976), and Denis Potvin (1974).
• The 13th first overall pick to win the Calder
• The eighth player to win the award during his age-18 season
• The fourth-ever defenseman to win the award
• The youngest Calder winning in NHL history at 18 years, 223 days old (Nathan MacKinnon, 2013-14 was 18 years, 224 days)t
• The first unanimous Calder winner since Winnipeg Jets forward Teemu Selanne in 1993
• The youngest defenseman in NHL history to reach 20 goals and 50 points in a season
• The first rookie defenseman to score 20 goals and just the fourth rookie defenseman to ever reach that milestone
• The youngest player in league history to score an overtime goal
• The youngest blueliner to record a power-play goal, game-winning goal, multi-goal game, and have a point in his NHL debut
• The fifth Islanders rookie to play in all 82 games and just the third rookie defenseman in franchise history to do so

Schaefer:

• Recorded the most points by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history (59)
• Avegared 24:41, the most by an 18-year-old skater in NHL history
• Recorded the most overtime points by a teenager (4)
• Logged 31:59 TOI on March 24, the most by a teenager since TOI tracking began