Matthew Tkachuk praises Auston Matthews' leadership after Olympics: 'He still doesn't get credit'

Off of the gold medal win at the 2026 Olympics, Matthew Tkachuk has spoken on his American captain Auston Matthews as the two will meet up as the Toronto Maple Leafs take on Tkachuk's Florida Panthers.

Florida will honor the champions of Team USA's Olympics victory, both Tkachuk and Matthews. On the pre-game event, Tkachuk said that he expects an electric crowd to see the two stars receive honors.

Speaking to the media ahead of Florida's game tonight against the Leafs, told reporters that he felt that Matthews was still being underrated, and deserved more praise for his talents.

The words from Tkachuk echo comments made by New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes back in Milan, who said that the Toronto media should be more focused on Matthews as a winner, leading team USA to gold.

Matthews has faced negative press this season from some within the Toronto media as the Leafs struggles have extended to Matthews, who has gone from 69 goals in 2023-24 to just 26 this season.

The lack of goals for the Leafs captain has been even more noticeable with Toronto's play, and has brought media questions over Matthews being able to regain his past scoring touch for a Leafs team needing offense more than ever.

With three goals and seven points for the Americans at the Olympics, the rest of the USA team is making clear that the Matthews they saw in Italy is deserving of the league's respect.

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