How good has young Matthew Schaefer been? Start here: so good you see Islanders jackets and ski caps abounding now, and not just in the usual strongholds like Hicksville, Huntington and Hauppauge. You see them in Brooklyn and Queens, New Jersey, even. There was actually a blue No. 48 jersey spotted at a recent Knicks game.
Go here: so good that even honest Rangers fans, naturally predisposed to loathe a player so good, so young, so resplendent in an Islanders sweater — it was less than an hour after he was taken by the Isles, remember, that he talked about sweeping them — will admit, in private moments of weakness, what a joy he is to watch.
(NOTE TO YOUNG MATTHEW SCHAEFER: Enjoy this while it lasts. There is a less than zero chance they’ll still feel that way by the next time you see the Rangers next fall.)
Go here: so good, just listen to the words of hockey guys who’ve been through it a time or two, been around the block a time or three. Listen to Butch Goring, who played 1,107 games in the NHL and won 27 more playoff games (82) than Schaefer has played in his career so far (55), speak eloquently about him when he’s in the Isles TV booth. Listen to Cal Clutterbuck (1,064 NHL games) do the same.