Matthews named captain, 'extremely honored' to play for Team USA at Olympics

MILAN -- Auston Matthews was named captain of Team USA for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Sunday.

The United States named Charlie McAvoy and Matthew Tkachuk as alternates, keeping the same leadership group from the 4 Nations Face-Off last season, when the U.S. lost to Canada 3-2 in overtime in the championship game.

General manager Bill Guerin and coach Mike Sullivan liked the chemistry at 4 Nations and wanted to keep it intact. Of the 25 players on the Olympic roster, 21 played at 4 Nations, and that doesn’t include defenseman Quinn Hughes, who missed the tournament because of a lower-body injury.

“For the most part, the group knows each other pretty well already, having spent time together, and I think that’s going to be a huge advantage,” center Jack Eichel said after the Americans practiced for the first time at Santaguilia Arena. “We’re lucky that we have a lot of relationships coming into it.”

Matthews is captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 28-year-old center won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 2021-22 and the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s goal-scoring champion three times (2020-21, 2021-22 and 2023-24).

Since entering the NHL in 2016-17, he leads U.S.-born players with 427 goals, 118 more than anyone else, and 775 points, 63 more than anyone else. Matthews has 48 points (26 goals, 22 assists) in 51 games this season.

“It’s just very special,” Matthews said, speaking about his first Olympic experience in general. “You’re always extremely honored to represent your country and wear the Team USA jersey, but obviously it means that much more when you’re doing it in a setting like the Olympics.”

McAvoy, a 28-year-old defenseman, is an alternate captain for the Boston Bruins.

He took an elbow to the face from Florida Panthers forward Sandis Vilmanis on Wednesday in the Bruins’ final game before the Olympic break after taking a puck to the face and missing 11 games earlier this season.

But McAvoy was one of four players who traveled to Milan ahead of the rest of the team and attended the opening ceremony Friday. He has 39 points (four goals, 35 assists) in 45 games this season.

“Well, we’re very relieved, and it was concerning to watch,” Sullivan said. “Charlie plays the game so hard. He’s a fierce competitor, and he puts himself in harm’s way all the time for the sake of his team, and I think that speaks volumes for competitive he is and just the courage that he plays the game with.

“He’s an elite defenseman and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win, and I think that’s why endures what he endures. He’s a physical player himself, but he takes hits to make plays a lot, and he does it undeterred, and I think, for me, if you want to define toughness, it’s not just about what you dish out. It’s your willingness to take hits to make plays also, and I think Charlie checks both of those boxes.”

Tkachuk, a 28-year-old forward, is an alternate captain for the Panthers.

Along with his brother Brady, he helped spark the Americans at 4 Nations, then helped Florida win the Stanley Cup for the second straight season. He had surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia Aug. 22 and didn’t return until Jan. 19. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 10 games this season.

Will the Tkachuks play together again at the Olympics?

Sullivan declined to say but added, “They were terrific at the 4 Nations event. In a lot of ways, they were, I think, the catalyst in helping us become the team that we had sought to become in that tournament in such a short period of time.”

The Americans didn’t reveal much other than the captains Sunday, including line combinations, defense pairings or goalie plans. Their first practice was mostly about getting the blood pumping after a 7 1/2-hour charter flight from New York that took off Saturday night and landed Sunday morning.

They have three days before their opener against Latvia on Thursday (3 p.m. ET; Peacock, USA, CBC Gem, SN, CBC), the first of three preliminary round games.

“We have a little bit of time, yeah,” Sullivan said. “We’ll see how it goes. As you guys know, if you watched, we did not practice in lines or defensive combinations today. That was by design.

“We have an idea of what we want to start with, and that will start to unfold here over the next couple of days.”