Rookie Watch: Schaefer, Leonard among top 1st-year players in Metropolitan Division

The impact several rookies are making on the NHL is one of the major storylines of the 2025-26 season. Each week, NHL.com will examine topics related to this season's class in the Rookie Watch. This week, the top five rookies in the Metropolitan Division (in alphabetical order):

Arseny Gritsyuk, F, New Jersey Devils: The 24-year-old (6-foot-0, 195 pounds), selected in the fifth round (No. 129) of the 2019 NHL Draft, is ninth among NHL rookies with nine points (four goals, five assists) in 18 games. He began the season averaging 13:55 of ice time in a middle-six role but has managed 19:37 in a top two-line role out of necessity with injuries to forwards Jack Hughes (finger surgery), Evgenii Dadonov (fractured hand), Cody Glass (upper body) and Connor Brown (upper body). What has been most impressive is Gritsyuk's defensive game, which has allowed coach Sheldon Keefe to trust him in various situations, including the opposition's top lines.

The Devils have managed 277 shot attempts when Gritsyuk is on the ice, 67 more than the shot attempts against (210).

"He's been really good, a really smart player," Keefe said. "He really hasn't made the same mistakes twice, and that's a sign of intelligence, which is so vital. When he doesn't have his best game, there's a solid foundation there, and that's so important for any player, but especially one coming into the League. He does a lot of things well even when he's not having his best game on offense or hasn't had that many touches of a puck.

"I'm putting him out consistently against the Sidney Crosbys or Evgeni Maklins when we played Pittsburgh (and won 2-1 on Nov. 8). It speaks to the confidence we have in 'Gritz.' He completes (Ondrej) Palat and Glass really well on that line."

Ben Kindel, F, Pittsburgh Penguins: The native of Coquitlam, British Columbia, has been a pleasant surprise for Penguins coach Dan Muse. Kindel (5-11, 182) is riding shotgun with Sidney Crosby and left wing Bryan Rust as an 18-year-old, is tied for 13th among NHL rookies with seven points (five goals, two assists) and tied for sixth with four power-play points (two goals, two assists) in 17 games. The No. 11 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft has 10 hits, 16 blocked shots and averages 15:16 of ice time, including 1:49 on the top power-play unit with Crosby, Rust, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson.

"I think the skill set, the poise, just his overall sense, have been impressive," Muse said. "He puts himself in great spots offensively and defensively. When he has the puck, there's no panic in his playmaking ability or the ability to hold on to pucks. When we watched him through training camp, his ability to process away from the puck on the defensive side was at a really high level. We saw him in a lot of different situations in camp, and he continued to check the boxes that we were looking for, and he's continued to do that here in the regular season."

Ryan Leonard, F, Washington Capitals: Capitals coach Spencer Carbery described his rookie forward as a player who "plays with an edge that rubs off on everyone." Leonard (6-1, 205) not only knows how to finish, he has eight points (three goals, five assists) this season, but also understands the importance of being physically engaged. The 20-year-old, chosen No. 8 in the 2023 NHL Draft, ranks sixth among Washington forwards in hits (27) in 18 games. He averages 12:47 of ice time and has a 57.1 on-ice goals-for percentage at 5-on-5 when on the ice. Leonard is skating on a line with center Connor McMichael and left wing Hendrix Lapierre.

"He's one of the few 20-year-olds I've ever coached that I don't have to shelter," Carbery said. "He continues to do elite things. Those are unique to not his skill set, but to just how good of a hockey player he is at this level. He can do things that other guys can't."

Alexander Nikishin, D, Carolina Hurricanes: Nikishin (6-3, 218) is a big, fast, physical, two-way defenseman, who was captain of SKA St. Petersburg in the Kontinental Hockey League last season. He's in a defense pair with Mike Reilly, ranks fourth among NHL rookie defensemen with eight points (two goals, six assists) and is first in plus/minus (plus-15) in 18 games. The 24-year-old, selected in the third round (No. 69) of the 2020 NHL Draft, also leads first-year defensemen in hits (46) and blocked shots (26) and is one of two rookies at his position to average more than 20 minutes in ice time (20:08) this season with Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders.

The coaching staff has shown faith in Nikishin with injuries to defensemen Jalen Chatfield and Jaccob Slavin.

"He looks good out there," Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov said. "For his size, he moves very well and moves the puck very well. He's a physical guy who crushes people sometimes.

Nikishin ranked second among KHL defensemen in goals (17) and game-winning goals (four) and third in points (46) in 61 games last season.

Matthew Schaefer, D, New York Islanders: It seems Schaefer, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, is establishing some sort of NHL or Islanders rookie record each game this season. The 18-year-old has eight assists in 19 games, tying Gerald Diduck (eight assists in 65 games) for second most by a teenage defenseman in Islanders history. He trails Bryan Berard (32 assists in 64 games).

Schaefer became the youngest player in NHL history to score an overtime goal (18 years, 70 days), completing a 3-2 win at the Utah Mammoth at 2:06 of OT on Friday to top Sidney Crosby's record (18 years, 101 days on Nov. 16, 2005). He is first among all NHL rookies with seven goals, 15 points, four power-play goals and average ice time (22:34). He has drawn 12 penalties, which leads the League at his position, one more than Nikita Zadorov of the Boston Bruins. He became the first Islanders teenager to reach 27 minutes of ice time in a single game (27:40 against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 25) since that statistic was first tracked in 1997-98.

Schaefer scored three of his seven goals this season from the long-range zone. The only players this season with as many from that area are Sean Walker (four), John Carlson (three), Josh Morrissey (three) and Brandon Montour (three), according to NHL EDGE.

The poise and professionalism Schaefer has exhibited has been nothing short of remarkable.

"I think every game you learn more, you get more comfortable, more confident," Schaefer said. "I mean, there's going to be games where it's not the same. You don't feel your best, there's bumps. There's lots of challenges but there's always going to be adversity. You got to learn from it, learn from your mistakes and just keep rolling and moving forward."

Schaefer began the season paired with Scott Mayfield but has since been promoted to the top pair with Ryan Pulock. He averaged 24:23 in four consecutive road victories before the Islanders lost 4-1 at the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. New York controls 51.3 percent of all shots attempted and owns a 52.8 percent on-ice goals-for percentage with Schaefer on the ice at 5-on-5.