In his Toronto debut, Islanders’ Matt Schaefer is the hottest ticket in town

TORONTO — To understand what Tuesday was like for Matthew Schaefer, don’t start with the scene at his stall after morning skate, with Toronto media packed around him, but 20 minutes later in a corner of Scotiabank Arena.

It’s always a bit of a mess here in Toronto, with so many players hailing from the area. Schaefer, though, was being pulled in 12 different directions for 20 different photos ahead of his first game in the closest NHL city to his hometown. There would be close to 1,000 people coming later to see him, he said, and only a fraction of that number were there in the morning. Still, he was the eye of the storm.

This was the only time all season the Islanders were scheduled to come to Toronto. So of course, everyone wanted a piece of him.

“I think just with people that I grew up with and things like that, teachers and family and stuff like that, it could be close to [1,000],” Schaefer said. “Might be pushing that a little bit, but yeah, there’s gonna be so many people here.”

Let’s stipulate that Schaefer didn’t personally arrange tickets for more than 5 percent of the building’s capacity; the number is an educated guess that includes people from Stoney Creek, Ontario, who bought tickets themselves and drove the 45 minutes. Still, this is a huge deal here in Toronto, where a local kid — and at 18, Schaefer still is very much a kid — rolled into town Tuesday as one of the biggest things in the sport.

“It’s pretty remarkable,” said the Maple Leafs’ John Tavares, who knows what this must be like better than most. “He’s doing things only a handful of players have done. It’s extremely, extremely impressive. He’s not just a franchise player, but he’s certainly put himself in the conversation of a generational type of talent.

“To be a defenseman at 18 years old and the contributions he’s made for them and how he’s played, it’s been remarkable.”

Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders skates with the puck against the San Jose Sharks. NHLI via Getty Images

Tavares, of course, said this inside the Toronto’s dressing room, eight years removed from ditching the Islanders. Schaefer mentioned Tuesday that a video exists somewhere of him at a young age chanting ‘Go Leafs Go,’ but this is no Footy Pajama 2.0.

“I wouldn’t come to a lot of games, but my dad was a Leafs fan growing up,” Schaefer said. “Watching them a little bit growing up. I think we’re all Islander fans now.”

Aside from all the people here to watch him, Schaefer refused to attach any extra importance to this game on account of it being in Toronto. It’s key for the Islanders to get two points in a tight playoff race, he said, but nothing more. (Schaefer didn’t say this part, but truth be told, with the Leafs in dire straits, this looked on paper like by far the easiest game of a road trip that continues in Ottawa and Montreal.)

It is due in large part to Schaefer that the Islanders are even in the playoff race. Impressive as his stats are — and when 82 games are up, they may well account for the best season an 18-year-old defenseman has ever produced in this league — there’s no way to quantify the way Schaefer has impacted the Islanders, for it goes far beyond what everyone can see on the ice.

“I don’t want to think about that,” coach Patrick Roy said, asked where his team would be without Schaefer.

As usual, though, Schaefer wasn’t about to make it about himself, even on a day in which Islanders No. 48 sweaters may have outnumbered Toronto No. 91s here.

“We have a great team. These guys have helped me so much: coaching staff, players and everyone,” Schaefer said. “I’m 18 years old, I’m playing in the NHL. They’ve helped me so much just adapt to this. Obviously it’s a little bit different when you’re young. There’s guys that have kids and are a little bit older.

“These guys, trainers and staff have helped me get to this moment. I just want to keep learning from all these guys, cause they’ve been in the league for so long.”