How Rangers barely missed landing Calder Trophy winner Matthew Schaefer
New York Rangers fans undoubtedly enjoyed every minute of their four-game season-series sweep of the New York Islanders in 2024-25. Little did they know that it would end up costing them a Calder Trophy-winner this season. The NHL announced Wednesday that Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer was the unanimous winner of the Calder, given to the League’s top rookie.
The Isles took Schaefer with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft after jumping from 10th to first by winning the lottery — despite having just a 3. 5 percent chance of doing so.
The Rangers finished three points ahead of the Islanders in the overall standings (85-82), putting them 11th with a 3. 0 percent chance of jumping to No. 1 in the lottery.
Instead, they fell back to the 12th overall pick and opted to send it the Pittsburgh Penguins (who acquired it from the Vancouver Canucks and then traded it to the Philadelphia Flyers) to complete the J. T. Miller trade midway through the 2024-25 season.
The Flyers used it to select center Jack Nesbitt, who is Liam Greentree OHL teammate at Windsor. The decision enabled the Rangers to keep this year’s unprotected first-round pick, which is No. 5 overall.
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