Jon Ledecky marvels that Matthew Schaefer is a better person 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 family members 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 mother, who died of breast cancer in 2024. 

The hockey-themed room will provide comfort, support and moments of joy for children while their parent or caregiver undergoes cancer treatment. 

“I know my mom is smiling down today,” the 19-year-old Schaefer said. “This mean so much to my dad [Todd], my brother [Johnny] and especially to my mom. 

“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.” 

Schaeffer played a game of bubble hockey — and lost — earlier Monday in the support room with 15-year-old L.J. London, whose mother Tenika Isaacs, a teacher, recently rang the bell for completing her chemotherapy and radiation treatments for breast cancer, 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 important. 

“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 presented L.J. with a ladybug bracelet in honor of their mothers. Soon after his mother died, a ladybug landed on Schaefer’s leg, and he uses it as a symbol 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 forward Matt Martin and his wife Sydney — whose family the teenaged Schaefer lives with during the season — also were in attendance. 

“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 looking forward to since it was first talked about last year. 

“It really is remarkable to see who he is as a person, not just as a hockey player, and that’s a testament to his mom and the way 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.” 

The Isles, who next face the Hurricanes on Thursday at UBS Arena, signed defenseman Ben Hutton to a PTO contract.