Top 2025 NHL Draft prospect Matthew Schaefer to miss remainder of 2025 World Juniors
Hockey Canada has announced that defenseman Matthew Schaefer will miss the remainder of the 2025 World Junior Championship with an injury.
Schaefer hit the Latvian net on a rush at speed early in the first period, with his shoulder being the principal point of contact. The Erie Otters’ defender immediately went to the room and did not finish the game.
Schaefer had played 2:08 in the contest and was on the top power-play unit at the time of the injury. The 17-year-old blueliner had two points in his tournament debut against Finland, playing 20:26 despite being the team’s youngest defenseman. Schaefer was looking to become the first player to win the U-17 World Challenge, U-18 World Championship, Hlinka Gretzky Cup and World Junior Championship, and do all of that before getting drafted to the NHL. The highly sought-after prospect was expected to play a big role throughout the rest of the tournament in what many expected to be his only shot at the U-20 level.
Schaefer is projected by many scouts to go first overall in 2025. The Hamilton, Ontario native has 22 points in 17 games with Erie this year in his second OHL campaign. The smooth-skating, smart defender was a key reason why Canada won gold at every international event he has skated in, and was the top player at the CHL USA Prospects Challenge last month, as well.
The IIHF allowed for teams to register 25 players this year, bumping up from the usual 23. Team Canada officially registered Vancouver Canucks prospect Sawyer Mynio last night, and still have two other players – forward Carson Rehkopf and goaltender Carson Bjarnason – on standby if needed. Canada can still call in a defenseman to serve as an injury replacement with Schaefer out of the tournament, but it’s unclear if they’ll do that with the seven defensemen they already have.
Canada will look to avenge their shocking 3-2 loss to Latvia on Friday when they hit the ice to take on Germany on Sunday. The Canadians will wrap up the group stage with a New Year’s Eve bout against the Americans on Tuesday.