LOS ANGELES — The New York Islanders selected gifted defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft Friday night.
High-scoring forward Michael Misa went second overall to the San Jose Sharks, and the Chicago Blackhawks took Swedish forward Anton Frondell third at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles..
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 — collecting seven goals and 22 points — 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.
An elite puck-mover and brilliant skater with a top-end, two-way transition game, Schaefer has great poise, posture and edges that allow him to not only carry play from end to end but close quickly on opponents, shut down the rush and be a playmaker in his own right.
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.
Schaefer persevered through tragedy to reach this milestone. His mother, Jennifer, died of cancer 16 months ago. When Schaefer pulled on his Islanders sweater for the first time, he kissed the pink ribbon patch on the chest representing breast cancer awareness before breaking into tears.
“I appreciate you taking a chance on me,” Schaefer said in a video conference call with the Islanders’ front office. “I promise I won’t disappoint, but especially I just want to say to my mom and all my family and friends, thanks for everything.”
Misa tore up the OHL last season as the captain of the Saginaw Spirit, scoring 62 goals and 134 points in just 65 games. He joins a struggling Sharks organization that chose Will Smith fourth overall in 2023 and got center Macklin Celebrini with the first overall pick a year ago.
“We just thought it was a perfect fit with what we already have here,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said. “Another guy to step in and be a nightmare matchup for people.”
An offensive force whose keen defensive instinct matches his natural scoring and playmaking skills, Misa, at 6-foot-1, brings physicality and bodily sacrifice too to give him a truly well-rounded game. His move permanently back to center this season also showed how he will insert himself through all facets of the game and he can fill that top six forward role in the NHL.
Frondell excelled as a 17-year-old forward last season with Djurgården in Sweden’s second division, showing off a two-way game that allowed him to push Misa on some draft boards. At 6-foot-2, he could provide a large complement to Connor Bedard.
The Islanders won the lottery to pick first in a draft that is packed with talent — while missing a few staples of recent drafts.
There was no absolute lock of a No. 1 pick in this field, although Schaefer clearly came out on top, and the draft also lacked the centralized structure that has long been a staple of this annual exercise. The 32 teams’ various executives are mostly at home, not strewn across the draft floor.
ESPN’s Kristen Shilton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
