New York Islanders first overall pick declares New York Rangers his new rival with a bold statement

His selection ended weeks of speculation on who would be chosen first overall with the Islanders landing the 1st overall pick several weeks back.

The 17-year-old defenseman who stands at 6 foot 2 and 185 lbs was ranked by most if not all draft experts Especially after the NHL Combine.

According to eliteprospects.com, Schaefer is known to control the game from the back end and is an elite puck rusher who can shield against the forecheck and traverses the defensive zone with a few long strides.

The Islanders were quite busy over the past 24 hours after the team had made a blockbuster trade with the Montreal Canadiens where they had sent defenseman Noah Dobson in exchange for Montreal's 2025 first round draft choices and prospect Emil Heineman.

This was also the first draft for newly hired general manager Matthieu Darche after he had been with the Tampa Bay Lightning organization for many years.

After choosing to give up their 2025 first round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins to complete the JT Miller trade, the team will now be busy for rounds two through seven as the Rangers will look to add several pieces to their depth and youth.

With several Rangers prospects beginning to graduate into the American Hockey League and the NHL, it's likely the team will continue to draft as much as possible as they need to restock their cupboards and grow their talent within rather than leaning on unrestricted free agency to fill the void.

Many expect the Rangers to continue their changes over the next number of days and weeks as unrestricted free agency is set to begin on July 1st and other trades will likely be in the wind as Drury has indicated.