Schaefer, who lost his mother to breast cancer in February 2024, talked to each family and signed autographs in a video posted by the Islanders.
“It’s never going to be easy, but I guarantee when you guys are playing baseball, she always has a front row seat to every game you play,” Schaefer told one kid in the video. “She’s the umpire calling out ‘strikes, strikes.’”
After, a young fan named Cole presented the Islanders prospect with one last thing to sign: his rookie contract.
The young defenseman then inked his name on the three-year entry-level contract as Cole and Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche looked on.