Andrew Gross: Why Islanders' Matthew Schaefer potentially moving to right side won't be an issue
Islanders' Matthew Schaefer skates during the first period against the Montreal Canadiens at UBS Arena on Apr. 12, 2026 in Elmont. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Everything may be all right for Matthew Schaefer.
The moment Islanders coach Pete DeBoer said was “coming” less than 24 hours earlier became reality on Saturday on Day 3 of training camp at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow. The lefthanded shooting Schaefer, the record-setting, unanimous winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie last season, practiced on his off-side, paired with fellow lefty Adam Pelech.
And having Schaefer play on the right could clear a path into the top six for lefthander Isaiah George.
Or, as DeBoer said, for lefthanded first-year pro Kashawn Aitcheson, the 17th overall pick in 2025. Veteran right-handed shot Scott Mayfield is also battling for ice time by trying to convince DeBoer to keep Schaefer on the left side.
“He ends up on that side [the right] a lot in the games,” DeBoer said. “The rest of our lineup will dictate that. Who elevates here in training camp? Who plays well? Do we need him on the right because of the way the rest of the defense is rolled out?”
First, though, the 19-year-old Schaefer, who has consistently shown he can handle anything the NHL or life presents to him, must prove to DeBoer his comfort level playing the off-side on a regular basis.
That shouldn’t be a problem for Schaefer, who initially played on the right side as a teenager before getting to the junior Ontario Hockey League.
“It’ll be easy,” Schaefer said. “When I grew up playing minor hockey I played on the right side literally the whole time because there wasn’t enough righties. I loved it, to be honest. When I came into the OHL I didn’t even know how to play left because I played right so much. In the OHL, I played a little bit of left, a little bit of right. More left. It’s really not that much different to me, the left side or the right side. I just want to help our team anyway possible.
“[On the right], when I’m in the offensive zone, I’m walking into the middle on my forehand so I can make a lot of plays in that way. It’s very similar, there’s not much of a change.”
Power-play urgency
Islanders coach Rocky Thompson talks with Matthew Schaeffer during the team's development camp at Northwell Health Ice Center at Eisenhower Park on June 30, 2025 in East Meadow. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
Saturday marked the first on-ice work on the power play and the urgency to improve the unit, which finished 30th in the NHL last season and 31st the previous season, is clear. First-year assistant coach Rocky Thompson, promoted after one season in charge of the team’s AHL affiliate, will direct man-advantage play.
“It’s a priority, there’s no doubt,” DeBoer said. “It’s not a quick fix. It hasn’t been good for quite a while. We’re looking to take steps and build a foundation and try and get this to be good going forward. You cross your fingers and hope it’s a quick fix. I’m very confident it’s going to be improved.
“The good power plays are interchangeable. There’s a lot of motion. There’s a lot of guys moving to different parts of the ice and they’re interchangeable in their positioning. I felt this group was really stagnant, almost deferring to, ‘Well, that’s my spot there. That’s your spot.’”
DeBoer and Thompson are working with much of the same personnel from last season. Schaefer quarterbacked the first unit with Cal Ritchie, Bo Horvat, Kyle Palmieri — returning from an ACL injury — and Brayden Schenn, with both Ritchie and Schenn taking turns as a net-front presence. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo worked on the second unit with newcomer Matias Maccelli, Anthony Duclair, Simon Holmstrom and Emil Heineman.
“We could talk to you about it for five years, we’ve got to get a better percentage,” DeAngelo said. “I had Rocky in Philadelphia, he’s real detailed with it. We’ve just got to pick it up, there’s really nothing else we can say.”
Goalie talk
Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin looks on against the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena on April 3, 2026. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Ilya Sorokin, 31, is signed through 2032 and, with a salary-cap hit of $8.25 million, expected to remain the Islanders No. 1 goalie for the foreseeable future. Fellow highly-rated Russian Dmitry Gamzin, selected in the fourth round in 2024, has a KHL contract with CSKA Moscow — Sorokin’s former team — through 2028 and the Islanders are certainly hoping he closely follows Sorokin’s path to being a top NHL netminder.
And then there’s undrafted free agent Joshua Kotai, who has done nothing but stop most of the pucks shot his way through rookie camp and training camp and could still figure prominently in the Islanders’ future goaltending plans.
The lefthanded Kotai, 23, is expected to share the net for the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Hamilton, Ontario in his first, full professional season.
“I pride myself in my skating and my athleticism and I know I’ve got to just continue to refine those little things,” said the 6-2, 188-pound Kotai, from Abbotsford, British Columbia. “Having guys like Ilya and Semyon [Varlamov], they’re around my size and I would say a similar style, they’re great skaters as well, so it’s good too pick little things from them and try to put that in my game while still playing my own style.”
Kotai, whose father, Alex, was a practice goalie for the Vancouver Canucks, was a Mike Richter award finalist as the top goalie in college hockey last season for Augustana University.
“My goal one day is to be an NHL starter,” Kotai said. “It would be great if that’s here. Who knows? That’s just where my eyes are set.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
