Islanders rookie Matthew Schaefer not bothered by Olympics snub — and is ready if Canada needs him

· New York Post

Matthew Schaefer took his Team Canada snub in stride.

“They have a great team. I’m young,” Schaefer said. “So there’s a lot of great Canadian defensemen, they all play in the NHL. They got a good group. I’m ready if I ever get a call.”

There is still a chance Schaefer will end up going to Milan as an injury replacement if any of the eight defensemen named Wednesday get hurt between now and the start of the tournament.

Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders on the ice during the third period when the New York Islanders played the Utah Mammoth Thursday, January 1, 2026 at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. Robert Sabo for NY Post

“I think there’s a lot of guys still on the list but they have a great team,” he said. “They’re gonna do great things. I was really happy my name was even in the running. It’s an honor when your name’s in the running for the Olympics, for Team Canada, for your country.”

The Islanders went to the line blender for the second straight game.

They re-separated Horvat and Mat Barzal on the top two lines, with Horvat centering Jonathan Drouin and Emil Heineman while Barzal played between Anders Lee and JG Pageau.

Cal Ritchie’s line with Max Shabanov and Simon Holmstrom was the only one to stay unchanged.

Marc Gatcomb and Anthony Duclair both drew out as healthy scratches with Kyle MacLean, Casey Cizikas and Max Tsyplakov making up the fourth line.

Roy said that Ilya Sorokin is “getting closer and closer” to returning from a lower-body injury and has been taking shots while skating on his own.