Auston Matthews seals Leafs’ win with a shootout goal (0:32)Auston Matthews seals Leafs’ win with a shootout goal (0:32)
Emily KaplanFeb 8, 2026, 02:54 PM ETMultiple Authors
MILAN — Auston Matthews has been named captain for the U.S. men’s hockey team at the 2026 Olympics.
Matthews, the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, also wore the C at last February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, where the U.S lost to Canada in the final.
Matthews, 28, represents the growth of hockey in the United States. Matthews, whose mother is from Mexico and father is from California, was raised in Arizona and trained through the U.S. National Team Development Program as a teenager.
Matthews has scored 427 goals in 680 career NHL games, which is second among all active American-born players — trailing only Patrick Kane’s 500 in 1,345 games. Matthews and Kane are two of only eight Americans to be selected No. 1 in the NHL draft.
Charters carrying most of the NHL players participating in the Olympics arrived in Milan on Sunday morning. By the afternoon, the men’s hockey teams got on the ice for their first practice, including Team USA.
Coach Mike Sullivan said the team purposefully didn’t want to show any line combinations, though it appeared based off drills that Jack Eichel was centering the Tkachuk brothers while Matthews centered the other top line, flanked by Matt Boldy and Jake Guentzel.
Team USA players said they are committed to staying in the Olympic village because they want the full experience. NHL players have not participated in the Olympics since the 2014 Games in Sochi. The Americans have not won Olympic gold in men’s hockey since the 1980 Miracle on Ice team.
Auston Matthews seals Leafs’ win with a shootout goal (0:32)Auston Matthews seals Leafs’ win with a shootout goal (0:32)
Charlie McAvoy and Matthew Tkachuk are the alternates.
Auston Matthews seals Leafs’ win with a shootout goal (0:32)
Emily KaplanFeb 8, 2026, 02:54 PM ETMultiple Authors
