Meet Matthew Schaefer, the top (early) defenseman for the 2025 NHL Draft

Steven Ellis
Steven Ellis
Matthew Schaefer (Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff)
Credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff

EDMONTON – Matthew Schaefer might be one of the most decorated 16-year-olds in the world right now.

In 2023, at age 15, he led Ontario to gold at the Canada Winter Games. In November of the same year, he won gold at the U-17 World Hockey Challenge and then earned serious consideration for the top defenseman award en route to helping Canada win gold at the U-18 World Championship.

And now he’s trying to finish off the Team Canada trifecta, winning his third straight gold in his third appearance for his country.

Through two days, Schaefer has easily been one of the top performers at the Hlinka, registering four points in two games while donning the C. Canada earned a spot in the semifinal after winning their first two games, with scouts pointing a finger in Schaefer’s direction as a big reason why.

Already seen as a veteran of the international stage, Schaefer was a natural fit as Canada’s captain. His teammates respect him, his OHL rivals respect him, and the coaches know they can lean on him. Schaefer really turned heads in Finland earlier this year, showing he can play a massive role on a team with older, more experienced competition.

“(The U-18 World Championship) was a great experience because I was an underager and I kind of got to feel what it was like playing against the best players in the world,” Schaefer said. “It was pretty cool playing with all these older guys, and they helped me out and taught me a lot of things. So I want to bring to the table some of the stuff they taught me for people that need it on our team and help us try to win a gold medal.”

Winning gold at the Hlinka would be a big way to kick off what’s expected to be a momentous season for Schaefer. He’s already projected to be the first defenseman taken in the 2025 NHL Draft, with Daily Faceoff ranking him at No. 5. Schaefer is also one of the youngest players in the draft, having been born 10 days before the cutoff that would have instead moved him to 2026.

That matters to some scouts, but they all agree that the speedy, two-way defenseman won’t last long on draft day, wherever that happens next June.

“He’s got the skill to be a game-changing defenseman in the NHL, no doubt about it,” one scout said. “You don’t find players at his age commanding the puck like he does.”

None of it’s surprising, either. Schaefer was selected first overall to the Erie Otters at the 2023 OHL Draft after being a leader on the Halton Hurricanes AAA team. Schaefer’s numbers were nothing special, but he looked much more comfortable playing a vital role on the Otters as the season wore on.

Not only did he have to lead a team amid a rebuild, but he had to deal with more tragedy than any 16-year-old boy should ever have to overcome. For someone who can be found smiling more often than not, Schaefer had to overcome tragedy – not once, but twice – during his rookie campaign. In February, he lost his mom at the age of 56 after a three-year fight with cancer. Two months earlier, his billet mother was struck by a train in a death that was ruled as a suicide.

None of that has stopped him from chasing his dream, and he wants to make the two important women in his life proud.

“He’s a special player, but he’s also a great leader for us,” said Canadian goaltender Jack Ivankovic. “He’s just an all-around great guy. His will to lead the group and carry himself like a pro, it’s pretty cool to have him here.”

On the ice, there’s so much to love about Schaefer’s game. There isn’t a better, more deceptive skater on the blueline in this draft class, with his mobility being among the best we’ve seen in recent draft classes. Schaefer is as good of a puck distributor as you’ll find, too, and it’s only a matter of time until he pops off in the OHL. That’s partly because he thinks that game at such an advanced level at his age, often luring opponents in before pulling off a deceptive deke and getting the puck where it needs to be.

At the Hlinka, we’ve seen Schaefer play quarterback at 5-on-5 because he can slow the game down to a pace that only he can, allowing him to score twice in the opener against Switzerland.

But Schaefer is a defenseman, and defending can be challenging for many blueliners his age. Schaefer feels his own-zone game has taken significant strides since breaking through to the OHL.

“I feel like my defensive game has gotten better, stepping up at the blue line, surfing, angling, playing in the defensive zone,” Schaefer said. “I want to be known to shut down the game when we need to shut down, or help get a goal when we need a goal.”

Scouts are quite happy with his ability to do both.

“After just one year in the OHL, you can already see how well-rounded he is,” another scout said. “Even though the points didn’t come, you saw the raw potential, and he has put that all on display in Espoo and Edmonton the past few months.”

Erie is unlikely to challenge for the OHL championship this year, so we could see Schaefer represent Canada again at the U-18s in Texas in April. If everything goes well in Edmonton over the next few days, he might have a fourth major gold medal by his bedside table by then. Regardless of what happens on the hardware front, everyone seems to agree Schaefer is well on his way to becoming a future top-pairing defenseman.

Everyone can agree that Schaefer will be one heck of a player – but the real question is just how good.

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