Jon Ledecky marvels that Matthew Schaefer is a higher individual than he is a hockey player, which the Islanders’ co-owner acknowledges is “saying an awful lot” about the reigning NHL Calder Trophy winner.
The second-year defenseman spent his off day Monday with relations at the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center at the Northwell Health Center for Advanced Medicine in Lake Success to dedicate the Jennifer Schaefer Child Support Room in honor of his mom, who died of breast most cancers in 2024.
The hockey-themed room will present consolation, support and moments of pleasure for youngsters while their mum or dad or caregiver undergoes most cancers remedy.
New York Islanders’ Matthew Schaefer cuts a ribbon at the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Lake Success, N.Y. AP Photo/Stephen Whyno
“I know my mom is smiling down today,” the 19-year-old Schaefer said. “This imply so much to my dad [Todd], my brother [Johnny] and particularly to my mother.
“This room is going to be so special. It’s going to help so many families and so many kids. I know when my mom was going through cancer, we wished we could have had a room where me, my brother and my dad could go to get a breath of fresh air. I think I’m going to be there just as much as [these families] are.”
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer performs bubble hockey with Len London, Jr., 15, in Lake Success, N.Y., Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. for the NY POST
Schaeffer performed a recreation of bubble hockey — and lost — earlier Monday in the support room with 15-year-old L.J. London, whose mom Tenika Isaacs, a trainer, lately rang the bell for finishing her chemotherapy and radiation remedies for breast most cancers, which is now in remission.
“As a parent, an educator and someone who has now faced breast cancer, I know firsthand that when a parent receives a diagnosis, the entire family feels its impact,” Isaacs said. “That is why the Jennifer Schaefer Child Support Center is so necessary.
“This space represents more than child care. It represents emotional support, compassion, connection and recognition that our children need care and reassurance throughout this journey, too.”
Schaefer also offered L.J. with a ladybug bracelet in honor of their moms. Soon after his mom died, a ladybug landed on Schaefer’s leg, and he makes use of it as a image that she is always with him.
“It’s not fun when you come to hospitals,” Schaefer said. “But to have a room like this, where kids and families can go when your family [member] is getting treatment, the kids can go and just be a kid playing video games or just get a breath of fresh air and be themselves in a fun space that doesn’t feel like you’re at the hospital.”
Former Islanders ahead Matt Martin and his spouse Sydney — whose household the teenaged Schaefer lives with during the season — also were in attendance.
A room at the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center, named in honor of Matthew Schaefer’s late mom, Jennifer Schaefer, is displayed Nov. 2, 2026, in Lake Success, N.Y. AP Photo/Stephen Whyno
“Just to see how he’s handled everything he’s gone through on a day-to-day basis, he chooses to use this as a platform to help other people,” Martin said. “I know this has been something he’s been wanting ahead to since it was first talked about last 12 months.
“It actually is exceptional to see who he is as a individual, not just as a hockey player, and that’s a testomony to his mother and the method he was raised by [his family.”
The Islanders’ Children’s Foundation also made a donation of $150,000 to fund the project.
“My wife would be so pleased,” Schaefer’s father Todd said, fighting back tears. “That room is exactly what she would want, and I know when she was battling, we didn’t have anything like this. So to have a space like this where people can come in and kids can be kids, and it doesn’t matter how old they are, to be in her name, it couldn’t have come in a better place. … It’s a beautiful space to allow kids going through this to open up and talk about it… and to just get to be kids. … I know my wife is smiling and couldn’t be prouder.”
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer hugs Len London Jr. in Lake Success, N.Y., Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. for the NY POST
The Isles, who next face the Hurricanes on Thursday at UBS Arena, signed defenseman Ben Hutton to a PTO contract.
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