This evening Canadian defenseman Matthew Schaefer who is one of the favorites to be drafted first overall this season has gone down with a potentially serious injury. The World Junior Championships is a time for fans to get familiar with the young talent on the verge of coming to the NHL. This year Team Canada has a host of young players who will be draft-eligible in the coming years including Matthew Schaefer, Gavin McKenna, and Jack Ivankovic. All of these players came into this tournament hoping to boost themselves up in their respective draft classes. For Schaefer particularly he was hoping to get the advantage over American counterpart James Hagens who is one of the other names in consideration for first overall in 2025. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/mckeenshockey/status/1871295586760040751'> </a></blockquote></div> Unfortunately for Schaefer, his tournament has come to a screeching hault as he has suffered a potentially serious injury after crashing into the post during a game against Latvia. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1872808731156856903'> </a></blockquote></div> Schaefer would leave the ice and immediately head to the locker room where he has remained since. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/scottcwheeler/status/1872807127011737690'> </a></blockquote></div> If Schaefer cannot return for Canada this would be a major loss not only for Canada but for Schaefer himself who was hoping to have a legacy cementing tournament to solidify his case to be the number one overall pick. According to a report from NHL insider Bob McKenzie Schaefer has been ruled out for the rest of the night due to an upper-body injury. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/tsnbobmckenzie/status/1872818652288036865'> </a></blockquote></div> This season Schaefer has been playing for the Erie Otters in the OHL and has been dominant leading to the hype surrounding his name as he blazed past the competition. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/CHLHockey/status/1865049341087334546'> </a></blockquote></div> At the end of the first period, Schaefer has not returned and as more reports are made regarding his injury status and potential return to the lineup we will pass that information along to you.