In this episode, we continue our Prospect Spotlight series, in which we take a full episode deep dive on a single draft-eligible prospect, today's focus: Matthew Schaefer, a do-it-all two-way defenceman with significant #1 upside and potentially the top prospect in the 2025 NHL Draft! First, we introduce the player with his profile, statistical production, and his trifecta of puck skills: shooting, passing, and handling. Next, we shift our attention to his habits, tools, and toolkit. Last, we debate Schaefer's projection at the NHL level from both stylistic and statistical perspectives, before capping off the episode by looking at which NHL teams would be the best fit for him.

Elite Prospects' tool projection scale goes from 1 to 9:

1 - Below AHL Caliber Tool

2 - AHL Caliber Tool

3 - Replacement-Level Tool

4 - Average 4th line/#6 Defenceman Tool

5 - Average 3rd line/#4 Defenseman Tool

6 - Standard Top-6/Top-4 Tool

7 - Standard Top Line/Pairing Tool (Nick Suzuki's hockey sense)

8 - Game-Breaking Tool (Quinn Hughes' passing)

9 - Top-of-the-Line Elite-Level Tool (Bedard's shot or McDavid's skating)

(note: we try to balance upside and likelihood of reaching it in our evaluations)

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