Islanders select Matthew Schaefer No. 1 at 2025 NHL Draft
June 28 - The New York Islanders selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick at the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday afternoon in Los Angeles.
Schaefer, who will turn 18 on Sept. 5, played for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League the past two seasons.
The 6-foot-2, 183-pound Hamilton, Ontario native was limited to 17 games with Erie last season after missing the first nine with mononucleosis and then breaking his right clavicle on Dec. 27 while playing for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships.
Schaefer was the second-youngest player on Canada's World Junior roster, two months older than forward Gavin McKenna, who isn't eligible until the 2026 NHL Draft.
The day before he was injured, Schaefer scored an empty-net goal and had an assist in Canada's 4-0 victory against Finland in the tournament opener.
Schaefer lost his mother, Jennifer, to breast cancer in February 2024, two months after his billet mother, Emily Matson, died in an apparent suicide.
Despite having the 10th-best chance of winning the draft lottery at 3.5 percent, the Islanders landed the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft last month, the first time since drafting John Tavares No. 1 overall in 2009.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was slated to announce the first-round picks for the first time since he took over the position in 1993. This year also marked the first time team staffs did not attend the draft, but rather participated from their home cities.
"The clubs asked for this," Bettman said in February. "I wasn't looking for any more exposure. I have more than enough. But this is what the clubs told us they wanted, and we're going to try it. And we'll see after this year whether or not everybody likes it better."
--Field Level Media
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
North American Darts Championship 2025 prize money
THE North American Darts Championship returns for another year. Eight players from USA and Canada will take part in the darting extravaganza in Madison Square Garden. 3 3 Matt Campbell won the tournament in 2024, and returns to defend his title in New York. The tournament comes on the same weekend as the US Darts Masters, with Luke Littler and Luke Humphries among eight PDC names Stateside this weekend. The North American Darts Championship will take place on Saturday, June 28. SunSport can reveal how much money is on the line this weekend. North American Darts Championship prize money The total prize purse for the tournament is £18,576.31 ($25,000). With only eight participants, the prize purse is smaller than a regular PDC competition. The prize money is as follows: On top of the prize money, the winner of the tournament will earn qualification to the World Darts Championship and the Grand Slam of Darts. Who is taking part in the North American Darts Championship? The North American Darts Championship will consist of eight players from USA and Canada. They will also take part in the US Darts Masters over the course of the weekend. The participants are as follows: Matt Campbell (Canada) Jim Long (Canada) Danny Lauby (USA) Jules van Dongen (USA) Leonard Gates (USA) Adam Sevada (USA) Jason Brandon (USA) Stowe Buntz (USA) The full draw is yet to be announced.
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Fans roast 'painfully bad' NHL Draft change that sparked cringeworthy moment live on-air
The 2025 NHL Draft decided to go 'de-centralized' after years of having every team making their picks in one location. The results were not as smooth as the league hoped. In a manner similar to the NFL Draft, the NHL decided to let all the teams make their selections from their own offices rather than travel to one arena to announce the picks. While that opened up the floor for certain movie producers (Seattle Kraken owner Jerry Bruckheimer), musicians (Buffalo natives The Goo Goo Dolls), and even pro wrestlers (WWE 's Bayley, a fan of the San Jose Sharks) to announce picks rather than NHL commissioner Gary Bettman [all while subtly promoting themselves or their work], it was the 'Draft House' concept which generated the most backlash. In drafts of old, players would be able to greet the general managers and team executives of the hockey club which selected them on-stage and in person. With all the prospects attending the draft in LA and the teams elsewhere, that wasn't feasible. Wanting to continue that tradition, the NHL decided to set up video calls between team leaders and their new prospects, After each player was picked, they would walk behind the stage to a giant screen where - hopefully - they'd be able to have a natural, joyful conversation with the people they now represent. Instead, it led to many, many awkward moments where the technology betrayed the concept, players and executives stumbled over their words, and questions forced conversations that were met with muted reaction and delays. The most reviled concept was the 'Draft House' where players would speak to executives who selected them on a giant screen, replacing the in-person interaction from years past The NHL "Draft House" experience is only getting worse. 🏒📺🎙️😬 #NHL #NHLDraft — Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 28, 2025 The worst example was when the Boston Bruins had the seventh overall pick. After taking Boston College prospect James Hagens (with the selection being announced by Adam Sandler as 'Happy Gilmore' ahead of the character's movie sequel), the player was escorted to the 'Draft House' where he faced a giant screen with team executives Cam Neely and Don Sweeney. After an ESPN reporter asked a leading question to get either Neely or Sweeney to respond, the two executives did not speak. A second attempt was made to try and elicit some reaction from the two struggling executives, but nothing happened and the broadcast was forced to make an awkward pivot. This was just one of many interactions which led to social media blasting the inefficiency of this year's draft, the poor concept, and what some believed was a failed attempt at making their draft process similar to the NFL's. Some meme accounts compared it to a scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens or the character 'Zordon' from Power Rangers - both of which involving figures that dwarf others. NHL podcaster and writer Pete Blackburn posted, 'This whole NHL Draft presentation is some of the most bizarre, sloppily thrown together s**t I've ever seen in pro sports. Every second is more bizarre than the last.' One fan said, 'They tried to make the NHL Draft a spectacle into the NFL Draft. It's failing miserably.' Another remarked, 'I cannot stress enough how terrible this draft format is. Like painfully bad. How the NHL can continue to overthink things every single event is beyond me.' Former NHL goaltender Andrew Raycroft even joked, 'Give me the old draft back'.
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Reuters
Jose Berrios, Jays' bats extend Red Sox's skid to 6
June 28 - Jose Berrios tossed seven scoreless innings to lead the visiting Toronto Blue Jays to a 9-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. Berrios (4-3) limited Boston to four hits, struck out eight and walked one in the opener of a three-game series. Toronto's victory extended Boston's losing streak to six games. It also ended Boston's five-game home winning streak. The Red Sox have scored four runs in their last three games. Andres Gimenez had three hits and three RBIs as part of Toronto's 16-hit attack. The Blue Jays, who drew eight walks, also received three hits and two RBIs from George Springer. Boston starting pitcher Brayan Bello (3-3) exited the mound after six innings. He gave up three runs on eight hits and three walks with one strikeout. The Blue Jays added two runs in the seventh and four in the eighth. The Red Sox were without rookie Marcelo Mayer, who was placed on the bereavement list Friday. Boston recalled Nick Sogard from Triple-A Worcester and he started in place of Mayer at third base. Vladimir Guerrero was in Toronto's lineup despite leaving Thursday's 6-0 victory over Cleveland in the third inning after he was hit by a pitch. He collected two hits and scored three runs during Friday's win. Guerrero had a two-out single in the first and scored on Springer's single later in the inning for a 1-0 lead. Toronto doubled its lead in the second on Bo Bichette's RBI single that drove in Ernie Clement, and it was 3-0 after Clement's two-out single scored Springer in the third. In the seventh, Addison Barger scored on Alejandro Kirk's double to extend the lead to 4-0 before Gimenez drew a bases-loaded walk, scoring Guerrero to stretch Toronto's advantage to 5-0. Toronto's four-run eighth featured an RBI single by Springer, a sacrifice fly by Myles Straw and a two-run single by Gimenez. The Blue Jays are 6-2 against the Red Sox this season. --Field Level Media
