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The Calder Trophy — awarded to the NHL's rookie of the year — is usually one of the most talked-about awards that the league dishes out, and that's because there's usually a pretty compelling race for the award.
Instead, Islanders rookie standout Matthew Schaefer was the runaway winner.
Islanders rookie standout Matthew Schaefer ran away with this year's Calder Trophy race. (Brad Penner-Imagn Images)
Schaeffer, who was selected by the Isles with the first-overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, was surprised with the trophy during an appearance on ABC's 'Good Morning America', with his father on hand.
Also in attendance were former Islander Matt Martin and his family, with whom Schaefer lived this season.
Emotions were high as Schaefer overcame some personal tragedy when his mother passed away in 2024.
He has quickly become a key piece of an Islanders team that looked to be on course for the postseason but faded down the stretch.
Matthew Schaefer is selected as the first overall pick by the New York Islanders in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Theater. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Despite the disappointment for the team, Schaefer had an incredible 59 points (23G, 36A) as a defenseman and a +13 rating after appearing in all 82 games this season.
It was so impressive that he won the Calder Trophy unanimously, taking all the first-place votes ahead of Montreal Canadiens forward Ivan Demidov and Anaheim Ducks winger Beckett Sennecke.
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And that's not to imply that Demidov and Sennecke were slouches this year. Far from it.
Demidov racked up 62 points (19G, 43A), while Sennecke had 60 points (23G, 37A), and both were key pieces that helped their respective teams not only make it into the playoffs at all, but into the second round.
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The win makes Schaefer the first unanimous Calder Trophy winner since Teemu Selanne won the award in 1992-93 as a member of the original Winnipeg Jets.
Schaefer — who seems like a really good dude — capped off the day by taking his new hardware to a local children's hospital.
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