Given the way he carries himself both on and off the ice, it is easy to forget that Matthew Schaefer, at just 18, is still a kid.
That is what he used his 11-day Olympic break for: to spend some time with his friends and just “be a kid.” That includes watching his beloved Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, where there is an extra degree of rooting interest now that his New York Islanders teammate, Bo Horvat, is representing the famed Maple Leaf.
Granted, this one felt a little different. After all, the rookie defenseman has been so otherworldly in his first four months in the NHL that he was up for consideration to join the Canadian national squad in Italy, which would have made him the youngest pro ever to do so.
“I’m still gonna be a kid, still gonna watch it,” Schaefer told amNewYork on Tuesday. “I love watching all the NHL players, and Bo is on the team, so I can cheer for him, too. No matter what, it was gonna be a win for me. It’s obviously my first season, and you have to go and get some rest, but just to have my name be in consideration, that was pretty cool. But they have a great team, and I’ve been cheering them on this whole time.”
Schaefer’s first season in the NHL after being taken No. 1 overall by New York over the summer has only confirmed that this is a generational talent in the making. Across 58 games, he has 16 goals — just one shy of tying the NHL record for most goals scored by a defenseman aged 18 or younger — along with 23 assists.
He is also hoping that this is the last time he’ll be on the outside looking in at Team Canada at the Olympics. Given the trajectory of his young career, that seems like a given.
“Hopefully that’s the case, where I’m not watching any more of the Olympics [on TV],” he said. “But you never know what will happen. I think for me, I just want to keep building my game, keep getting better, keep improving on a lot of things. Then, by the end of it, hopefully I’ll be playing in a gold-medal game in the future.”
Team Canada faces Czechia in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Winter Games on Wednesday morning.
