Matthew Schaefer’s focus wasn’t on becoming a marketer’s dream. The Islanders’ prized rookie only longed to be a superior NHL player as quickly as possible.

But the combination of the No. 1 overall pick’s confident yet humble demeanor — along with his superb play — makes him not only a natural to be the face of the Islanders but a young, marketable star with broader appeal for the NHL. In the competitive New York market, Schaefer could eventually elevate the Islanders’ brand to equal footing with the Rangers, or better.

“If you’re a neutral fan, if you have no stake in the game, you’ll turn on the game and be like, ‘All right, I want to see this kid and I want to see him succeed,’ ” Williston Park’s Liam McHugh, the host of TNT Sports’ NHL coverage, said in a telephone interview with Newsday. “I do think he’s one of those kids who could be nationally marketable.”

And a recent brief but hilarious exchange with Schaefer on TNT highlighted the seemingly limitless possibilities surrounding his marketing potential given his engaging, media-savvy personality that belies his youth at age 18.

The network, one of the NHL’s national broadcasting partners, wanted to interview Schaefer for part of its Hockey Fights Cancer coverage this month. His mother, Jennifer, lost a two-year battle to breast cancer in February 2024.

So Schaefer remotely joined a panel featuring Henrik Lundqvist, Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter and McHugh. Lundqvist was given first honors and as the Rangers Hall of Fame goalie asked his question, Schaefer broke into a grin.

“First off, it’s pretty tough to get a Ranger asking the first question,” Schaefer said as his chirp drew laughs and respect from the other panelists. “I’d rather the Long Island native ask me first. But I’ll let this one slide.”

It was just a small sample of how the NHL has already started to lean upon Schaefer’s natural ease, his youthful good looks and budding stardom to promote the league, particularly through social media and its behind-the-scenes video series surrounding this June’s draft.

“I think hockey players are often people that we see on the ice and we know very little about them personally,” McHugh said. “A lot of hockey players are hesitant to really show their personality. Schaefer is not like that at all. He’s exactly who he is, he’s comfortable with that and he’s happy to share that with anyone. That’s really going to help with his star in this market.

“He’s so easy to root for, for so many reasons. I honestly believe he’s the type of player [that causes] you [to] be talking more about the Islanders than you’d be talking about the Rangers in that market.”

Impact of social media

Lauren Hindman, an assistant professor in Hofstra’s sport management program at the Frank G. Zarb School of Business, said social media can hold the key to Schaefer’s ultimate marketing potential.

“I think one of the things that we see with NHL players is they just tend to not have the same public presence or social media presence that some athletes in other sports have,” said Hindman, who also spent five years as senior director of marketing for the Texas Stars, the Dallas Stars’ AHL affiliate. “When we think about trying to build the personal brand of an athlete, I think it is just more of a challenge in the culture of hockey to do that.

“But the Islanders are trying to at least do that on their end by featuring players like Schaefer in their own team social media. So I think that’s going to be important.”

Schaefer and his family’s story were widely introduced to the NHL audience during the coverage leading up to and during June’s draft. Schaefer, at the podium in Los Angeles after being selected first overall, shed tears as he kissed the pink cancer ribbon the Islanders deftly placed on the jersey they presented to him. The ribbon instantly became an iconic image.

He was featured prominently in behind-the-scenes moments in both the NHL Productions’ “Welcome To The NHL” two-part series and the Islanders-produced “On The Island.” That included a memorable moment of Schaefer signing his first contract surrounded by local youths who had lost loved ones.

Schaefer appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” two days after being drafted, proving his appeal wasn’t limited to a hockey audience. He threw out the first pitch before the Mets’ game on Aug. 4

“He’s the most posted about player we have,” said Heidi Browning, the NHL’s chief marketing officer. “He’s accrued the most views and the most engagements on our social media, our article reads, our stories, etc. We really think it’s the powerful combination of being an extraordinary hockey player who is now delivering on the ice [and] people are really rallying around him because of his personal story and the fact that he’s so open, so vulnerable and so kind in sharing his story. And his genuine desire to want to help others.”

Browning added her data shows Schaefer is among the top five NHL players being discussed on social media along with the Oilers’ Connor McDavid, the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews and the Devils’ Jack Hughes, all established stars.

The NHL told Newsday Schaefer’s social media presence through the league had drawn 59 million views and 1.7 million engagements from the draft through the end of last month.

“That, by definition, will have a halo effect on the Islanders,” Browning said. “As the team continues to jell and we continue to watch him grow as a player on the ice, I think all eyes will be on the Isles.”

Hindman said all the NHL and the Islanders have to do is let Schaefer’s personality shine through on social media.

“I know that they did a little post of him greeting his dad after his first game, where he kind of makes fun of his dad’s shirt,” Hindman said. “That’s the kind of stuff that’s resonating on social media right now in sort of the TikTok and Instagram reels world that we’re in, more so than the more polished, in front of a backdrop, interviewed by somebody and giving a media-trained answer.”

The Islanders went into the NHL Draft with just a 3.5% chance of securing the first pick and, had they not lost, 9-2, to the Rangers on April 10, their New York rivals would have wound up with the winning combination of ping-pong balls that ultimately went the Islanders’ way. The Islanders’ luck in being able to select Schaefer coincided with the organization’s new initiative to market their current players.

Reconnecting with the fan base

The Isles’ previous president/general manager Lou Lamoriello built his Hall of Fame career on protecting his players from what he considered outside distractions, such as in-season community events. Lamoriello also protected his rookies by limiting media access to them. New executive vice president/GM Mathieu Darche has been part of ownership’s desire to see those restrictions loosened and to reconnect the current players with the local fan base.

“You’ve just got to be yourself,” Schaefer said. “I love doing stuff with people. I love helping out in any way possible, whether it’s things to do with cancer. I don’t really have to worry about that because my agent kind of takes control and the Islanders take control of that. I can just stay in my lane and play hockey.”

Still, Darche said the Islanders don’t want to overburden Schaefer, considering he just turned 18 on Sept. 5.

“There’s no doubt Matthew is an incredible talent and we are thrilled that he’s a New York Islander,” Darche said. “His genuine personality when connecting with fans, his humility around his teammates, and his confidence are infectious.

“When opportunities arise to grow the fan base, we will look to do so in a way that will benefit both Matthew and the entire organization, while always prioritizing Matthew’s development into the player we believe he is capable of becoming. We will manage every opportunity with a focus on allowing Matthew to achieve his ultimate goal: winning.”

Winning consistently would help the Islanders with their goal of increasing attendance at UBS Arena, where they averaged 15,258 through this season’s first eight home games at the 17,255-seat building.

There’s no doubt Schaefer’s athletic talents, his elite skating, on-ice vision and overall hockey IQ have elevated the Islanders’ play.

And Hindman said Schaefer being just 18 has “a lot of upsides” in terms of marketing.

But it may not immediately impact attendance.

“Interestingly, the research is kind of mixed in terms of how much that actually translates into attendance and ticket sales,” Hindman said. “Particularly to me, thinking about the marketing that they’re doing right now as an investment into a potential long-term relationship with the fan base. Because I think the real potential power is if he becomes a household name and he actually has that brand power, more so than just simply, he’s a really good hockey player.”

Hindman added that while there’s not an abundance of market research to correlate player recognition with ticket sales in the NHL, the data does indicate the real bumps occur when a player reaches “true superstar level.”

“Those are kind of the places where we start to see players becoming more household names and actually having a more measurable impact on attendance,” she said.

Few hockey players can claim that lofty status.

Sure, even non-hockey fans would likely know Wayne Gretzky or Mark Messier or Alex Ovechkin or Crosby or McDavid, among the better-known names. But it is a limited list that the Islanders and NHL hope Schaefer joins.

For now, the team’s fans already have embraced him as one of their own.

“He’s such a champion when it comes to his character, the way that he carries himself,” Medford’s Kelly Breslin said. “It’s almost like he’s been in [the NHL] for over 10 years. He just is such a heavyweight already.”

Said Sound Beach’s Joseph Cascardi: “He’s a champion. That’s pretty much it. The kid’s been through a heck of a lot. I have no doubt that he’s going to carry himself with that same kind of consideration in the future.”

Building brands nationally is key

NHL players being marketed nationally in the U.S. is not an easy sell, not like the NFL can do with brothers Jason and Travis Kelce or even Peyton and Eli Manning.

A few television advertising campaigns featuring NHL players have been memorable. A MassMutual spot from 2022 featured then-Lightning teammates Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos humorously comparing their children’s hockey progress. Back in 1979, the Rangers’ quartet of Phil Esposito, Ron Duguay, Anders Hedberg and Dave Maloney filmed a wonderfully cheesy ad for Sassoon Jeans.

Starring in a television ad certainly seems in Schaefer’s future.

Perhaps, he can help open that field to other NHL players as well.

“Our dream would be to have players who are willing and want to participate in building brands like that,” Browning said. “We always want to balance their priority of the team and the game. But a lot of athletes find and make the time to do some of these ancillary platforms. I think you will see a day, especially as we start to see more athletes like the Kelce brothers. Our young athletes look up to them as, what could the future be? So now I think there’s a lot more open minds to participating in that kind of activity.”

In marketing, the “Q rating” measures popularity and familiarity for celebrities, brands or products.

Islanders veteran center Bo Horvat said a young player such as Schaefer developing a good “Q rating” can be invaluable to the NHL Players’ Association as a whole. And get the Islanders more into the public’s consciousness.

“It’s so huge for our game,” Horvat said. “It’s so huge for, not only us as players to grow our own brand and get our names out there. Obviously, [Schaefer] helps a ton just because of the person and the player he is. I think it’s a great opportunity not only to grow the game on Long Island but all over the league and all over New York state. He just brings a lot of excitement for Islanders fans. It’s going to be so important for the PA and the Islanders and even the league to promote him and grow the game around this area.”

Horvat added it’s impossible not to look at the sponsorship and advertising opportunities – and money – athletes in other sports receive and wish there could be more for hockey players.

“I do,” Horvat said. “I think out of the four major sports, I think we kind of take the low seat to that. It is what it is. In Canada it’s a little bit different. But the majority of the teams are in the U.S. You’ve got to compete with basketball, football and baseball. But if you keep getting personalities like [Schaefer] and players like him to reach out to the public, it’s just going to grow the game even more than it already has.”

The dichotomy is, for all the off-ice expectations on Schaefer’s marketing potential and for all his willingness to make himself available, he’s happy being a full-time NHL player while “just being a kid.”

Newsday asked Schaefer whether he takes pride in his role elevating the Islanders more into the national conversation.

“I want to be one of the best players, one of the best defensemen in this league,” Schaefer said. “And I want to be there for my team each and every night. I want them to trust me. I wouldn’t be able to do anything without my teammates by my side.”

It was a totally sincere answer.

And a totally marketable one as well.