The New York Islanders selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft Friday night.
The Islanders surprised nobody by using their first No. 1 selection since 2009 on the 17-year-old Schaefer, a 6-foot-2 blueliner from Hamilton, Ontario, who spent the past two seasons with the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters. He played only 17 games last season before breaking his collarbone in December, but Schaefer's acumen on both ends of the ice still propelled him to the top of nearly all draft boards.
Schaefer is just the fifth defenseman drafted No. 1 overall in the NHL draft since 2000, and the first since Owen Power went to Buffalo in 2021.