Islanders' Matthew Schaefer is the unanimous Calder Trophy choice as NHL rookie of the year

NEW YORK (AP) — Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders is the unanimous winner of the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year.

The league surprised him with the award Wednesday.

Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the draft, was the Calder front-runner from just about the time he made his debut on opening night at Pittsburgh. He scored 23 goals to tie Brian Leetch’s record for the most by a rookie defenseman and finished with 59 points.

The 18-year-old became the face of the Islanders franchise and helped them make a playoff push before falling short in the final couple of weeks of the regular season. He received all 198 first-place Calder votes.

Montreal’s Ivan Demidov was second and Anaheim’s Bennett Sennecke third in voting by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

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