First up on the annual Broad Street Hockey Community Draft Board is the highly talented Matthew Schaefer, a Canadian left-handed defenseman that’s projected to be the first overall pick in June. Over the course of his OHL career with the Erie Otters, Schaefer steadily built his No. 1 pick résumé as the backbone of every team he played on, including Team Canada’s 2024 world juniors squad (prior to his injury).
If we think back to 2024’s class of defensemen, there was an excess of guys with top pair potential. Within the top 12, Artyom Levshunov, Carter Yakemchuk, Zayne Parekh, Anton Silayev, Sam Dickinson, and Zeev Buium all were selected with reasonable projections to be top-pair caliber. This year? There’s Schaefer, Radim Mrtka, and Jackson Smith? On top of the already thin crop, Schaefer is likely the only blueliner right now who has a decent shot at being a bona fide No. 1 defenseman, making Schaefer an even hotter commodity. So, there’s no question why Schaefer is on the pedestal of so many draft boards: he has the dynamic talent on the backend, in a draft where there’s not a ton of high-end projections on the blueline.
In his actual on-ice play, Schaefer had his draft-eligible season come to an abrupt end with a collarbone fracture at the World Junior Championships in December. There was a thought that Schaefer may be able to make a return to the OHL if the Erie Otters were to make a deep playoff run – but those hopes were recently dashed by the Denver Barkey and Oliver Bonk-led London Knights. Even with that limited ice-time, Schaefer was still able to impress enough scouts to vault him to No. 1 on most draft boards. Without further ado, let’s get into what Matthew Schaefer offers as a prospect.
Pre-draft rankings
No. 1 by The Athletic (Scott Wheeler)
No. 1 by Elite Prospects
No. 1 by TSN (Bob McKenzie)
No. 1 by Daily Faceoff
Statistics
What’s there to like?
There are cerebral players who feel like they control the entire ice, and then there is Matthew Schaefer. He does all the stuff that fits the archetype of a No. 1 defenseman, controlling the tempo and tone of the game almost every time he steps on the ice, picking and choosing the right times to activate while keeping defensive composure. Prior to his injury this season, the 17-year-old took a massive leap in OHL production, totaling 22 points in 17 games with Erie. He took the mantle of No. 1 defenseman, and Erie’s entire game began to revolve around him. Even more impressive? Schaefer did the same thing at a higher level, as an underager on Team Canada’s World Juniors team.
Take this quote from recently hired Erie head coach Kris Mallette, who coached Schaefer in the CHL USA Prospects Challenge in November, an important evaluation event for draft eligibles: “I think he’s next level. If he makes a mistake, he can find another level to make it better. The calmness he’s got, the ability to turn it from just a subtle stride into full steam is very impressive.”
As Mallette says, Schaefer is pretty dynamic on both ends of the ice, and is consistently looking to turn defense into offense and join the attack the other way. While that sometimes lands him into some trouble on the defensive end, his dynamic skating and excellent stick work often more than makes up for the inherent riskiness in his playing style, nullifying perhaps the only potential negative in his game.
In the offensive zone, Schaefer really makes an impact in his deceptiveness at the point and along the wall. His movement is extremely hard to read for opposing defenses, and if there’s any hesitation in defending Schaefer, his skating ability and quick hands help Schaefer generate tons of offense. Schaefer is completely unafraid to make a move and drive to the net, and he does this with regular effectiveness, as seen at the 0:18 mark of the clip below. Schaefer makes not one, but two moves on the way to the netfront, where he backhands past the Swiss goaltender. Or, at 2:38, Schaefer drives down low along the wall, before ripping a pass cross-ice to his teammate for an Erie goal.
Throughout the rest of the highlight compilation, other positive aspects of Schaefer’s game shines through. Namely, his emphasis on joining the attack in transition is evident in the majority of the highlights. It’s perhaps the most important and dynamic part of Schaefer’s game, and has the real potential to lift Schaefer to the upper echelon of NHL defensemen. It’s junior hockey against pretty weak defenders, but Schaefer has shown the ability to combine dynamic puck skills with elite skating, and create high quality scoring chances for his team. That high-end skating has resulted in breakaway goals, end-to-end rushes, and other creative passing plays on the rush, all mostly due to Schaefer’s skating putting immense pressure on opposing defenses and Schaefer picking the right spots to attack.
And finally, one of the other things to like about Schaefer is just how young he is compared to the other top prospects of this draft cycle. Born in September 2007, Schaefer is roughly a year younger than Michael Misa, Porter Martone, and James Hagens. There’s just a ton of runway left with Schaefer’s development, adding another plus to his draft profile.
What’s not to like?
Part of what’s differentiated Schaefer from the rest of the pack is that there’s simply not much of a weakness in his game. That cerebral quality is something that’s going to inherently put him at the top of a lot of draft boards, but if we were to nitpick, one of the only real questions about Schaefer is the riskiness in his game. There’s times where Schaefer picks the wrong spot to activate offensively, leaving his team in a bad spot heading the other way. Still, those types of mistakes are often coachable, and also are mistakes that you learn to live with if Schaefer is giving plus plus offense overall.
There’s certainly a question of how Schaefer is going to translate his dynamic offense into the pro game, and that’s a fair question for pretty much every elite offensive defenseman moving into the NHL. But, if a blueliner is going to have a shot at maintaining high-levels of offense in the big leagues, they look a lot like the draft-year player that Matthew Schaefer currently is. So, there’s just not much of a drawback with Schaefer, which is probably why he’s an almost unanimous No. 1 prospect.
How would he fit in the Flyers’ system?
Schaefer is about any organization’s dream defenseman, and it’s probably without question that the Flyers would love to get their hands on him. Organizationally, there’s a lot of talk about the Flyers desperately needing a No. 1 centerman, but there’s quietly another massive need for a No. 1 defenseman. System-wise, Schaefer’s ability to activate offensively feels like an insanely souped-up version of what Brad Shaw has been trying to get the Flyers young defenseman to do. Really, if Shaw stays on with the Flyers, it’s quite an appealing situation to let Shaw work his magic with a defenseman of Schaefer’s caliber. In that vein, Schaefer would likely fit the Flyers quite well.
Could the Flyers actually get him?
If and only if the Flyers are at No. 1 or maybe No. 2 at the NHL Draft. It’s possible that the team in the No. 1 spot could draft Saginaw centerman Michael Misa instead, but really Schaefer is expected to be No. 1 on most teams’ boards. So, unless the Flyers win the No. 1 pick and opt for Schaefer, or a team really likes Michael Misa and the Flyers are at second overall, Schaefer is likely bound for another organization.
What scouts are saying
“When you consider that Schaefer was less than two weeks away from being eligible for the 2026 draft, and the maturity and smarts that already exist in his game, there’s a lot to get excited about. But it’s his brilliant, frankly incredible skating (he’s the best-skating D in the class) that really elevates his projection as a potential No. 1 D and two-way transition monster. He’s got great posture and glide. He’s a balanced and flowing skater with light edges and great posture on his heels skating backwards as well as his toes going forward. He’s mobile in all four directions. But his ability to fly north-south, transport pucks down ice, track back when he’s carried end-to-end, go back and get pucks and catch guys defensively is elite. He also manages play in front of him. He’s got a good stick and an ability to close out on carriers, be disruptive and then advance and steer play down the ice. He’ll occasionally over-skate his gaps and close-outs and get beat one-on-one, but he recovers so effortlessly. His game is poised and efficient with the puck while also maintaining big play upside. He’s mature beyond his years in terms of reads and decision-making. He’s competitive and is by all accounts a great kid who leads by example. Schaefer looks like a projectable No. 1-2 defenseman who covers a ton of territory, can influence play in all four corners and three zones of the rink and is never in a bad spot because of his ability to flow and gallop across the ice.”
“There’s a couple factors that come into play and the first being he [Schaefer] still remains the best at his position in this draft class as a defenseman and that plays a big part in our projection. The other part is, from what we know of him and saw last year, especially at [Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August], where he dominated, his ceiling is so high. Is he going to be a taller version of Quinn Hughes or a slightly bigger version of Cale Makar? We don’t know that, but we do know he has that ceiling and that projection and so that’s basically why we kept him No. 1.”
Dan Marr, NHL Central Scouting
And with that, we have our first player off the board, and it’s time to replace him. Welcome to the poll, Anton Frondell!
Anton Frondell – C – Djurgårdens IF (HockeyAllsvenskan)
“Frondell makes a huge jump up the list this time around from the mid teens into the late top ten. I am really unsure of exactly how high up a lineup Anton Frondell will find himself, but that’s only because I could see him adequately filling a role on almost any line complimenting almost any other player. He’s physical, he goes to the net, he forechecks well, and his puck touches through the neutral zone are strong. I question the puck carrying and handling ability and how it could limit his potential, but as an off-puck do-it-all type, there’s lots to love about Frondell. He finds gaps and seams well, grinds the game down and does the dirty work you need a player to do. I don’t know if he’s a centre in the NHL and I’ve found his HockeyAllsvenskan play was at it’s best while he was on the wing, but as a great 200-foot 3C down the road, I could see a future there, but as a winger he could compliment just about anyone and be a projectable and effective player able to chip in everywhere you need. I might be cooler on him than many, but there are just a few other names that may be less projectable but bring tools that I think could bring more of an impact in multiple areas.”
Will Scouch – Scouching
