Matthews, a captain with the Toronto Maple Leafs, captained the USA at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, where the Americans placed second, behind Canada.
It is a safe choice that reflects Matthews’ status as the best American player in hockey. But it is also one that will raise questions if the U.S. team – loaded with elite players at every position – comes away from these Winter Games with anything short of gold.
The team plays its first game on Feb. 12 against Latvia, faces Denmark on Feb. 14 and Germany on Feb. 15.
Bill Guerin, the USA men’s team general manager, had a number of choices.
There are several players on the roster who serve as captains of their respective NHL clubs, including Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators), J.T. Miller (New York Rangers), Clayton Keller (Utah Mammoth) and Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings).
There’s also Quinn Hughes (Minnesota Wild), who was captain of his former club, the Vancouver Canucks.
Matthew Tkachuk does not captain the Florida Panthers, but he had led them to two consecutive Stanley Cup titles.
Matthews, 28, is an enormously skilled player. He twice has reached 60 goals in a season and fell one goal shy of 70 in 2023-24.
What he does not have is a record of leadership in the playoffs when games are on the line. In career Game 7s – and once out of the preliminary group stage, every Olympic game is an elimination game – Matthews has not scored a goal in six showdowns, producing just three assists and a minus-4 rating.