MILAN — Auston Matthews has been named captain for the U.S. men’s hockey team at the 2026 Olympics.
Charlie McAvoy and Matthew Tkachuk are the alternates.
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.
“Auston, Charlie and Matthew did a great job in leading our team a year ago at Four Nations and it’s great to have them back in those roles for the Olympics,” U.S. general manager Bill Guerin said in a statement. “They all bring different leadership traits to the table and I know all three are excited, as is our whole team, about representing our country as part of Team USA.”
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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.
“It’s crazy to think about now we’re here, and you get this opportunity, and it’s just very special,” Matthews said. “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 at a setting like the Olympics.”
