Leafs get back to trying to salvage their season, while Matthews, Team USA visit the White House

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Auston Matthews and his American teammates took some time to celebrate their Olympic win in Miami on Monday, before heading to the White House for a visit with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.Marta Lavandier/The Associated Press

While the Eastern Conference playoff race was the priority for the majority of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, their most valuable player had a more urgent engagement in the West Wing.

Not that anyone was about to begrudge their captain his trip to the White House to glad-hand with Donald Trump as Matthews led the victorious Olympic men’s hockey team to a celebratory luncheon with the U.S. President.

“Yeah, that’s great,” said head coach Craig Berube, adding that he expects Matthews to be in the lineup Wednesday night when the Leafs play in Tampa against the Lightning. “They won the gold medal, and [a] great honour to go there for these guys and enjoy the day there with them.”

Wearing the C, Matthews registered three goals and four assists in six games, more than any other American player save for the two Hughes brothers, Quinn and Jack.

In the three days since he became the first male American captain to strike gold at the Winter Games since Mike Eruzione 46 years ago, some commentators have been wondering whether the experience of leading a winner will translate positively when he returns to NHL play.

Crosby ponders Olympic future while Matthews just wants to ‘live in the moment’

Berube doubts it will make any difference, believing his captain will simply continue to “keep doing what he does.”

Many of Matthews’s teammates are excited to welcome him back into the fold though. Most opted not to send him congratulatory text messages, given that he’ll probably have thousands of them, preferring instead to wait to pass on their well wishes in person.

“Pretty awesome,” said Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll, who grew up in St. Louis, of Matthews winning gold and earning a trip to Washington.

“It’s a cool tradition when you win big things in the United States you get to go to the White House. The gold medal especially is huge for us. I mean, I grew up dreaming and watching Miracle on Ice and that 1980 win, so it’s crazy that it’s been that long but it’s a pretty awesome moment for him.”

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Matthews’s American Leafs teammates in particular were thrilled for their captain and his play in Team USA’s path to the gold medal.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

Matthew Knies, who, like Matthews, hails from Arizona, said he can’t wait to give him a big hug. Goaltender Anthony Stolarz, from Edison, N.J., said it was inspiring watching the American team as a whole, and Matthews in particular.

“He’s our leader and their leader as well,” Stolarz said. “So for him a lot of pressure and you couldn’t feel happier for him. He’s a great human being, great person. And just to see him be able to kind of lead them to a gold medal is all the credit to him to be able to do that.”

However, Matthews’s success sparked mixed emotions for William Nylander, whose Swedish team was beaten in overtime by Team USA in the quarter-final in Milan. He said that he told Matthews to go on and win gold after that game.

“Obviously I’m super happy for him and what he was able to accomplish there but I’m obviously upset that we lost,” Nylander said. “But it was a great game and they did a great job; not an easy feat to win the gold medal.”

With the 2026 Winter Olympics now consigned to the history books, attention once again turns to the Maple Leafs and their ongoing playoff plight. Six points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, the team has 25 games remaining to lift itself out of the mire.

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And with just six games remaining until the March 6 NHL trade deadline, the Leafs likely have to make some headway in narrowing that gap before then. Otherwise general manager Brad Treliving and the team’s brain trust will likely deal assets on expiring contracts at the very least in an attempt to reload for next season.

With back-to-back road games in Florida this week against the Lightning and Panthers, and again next week against the Devils and Rangers, Berube is mindful of the upcoming workload. For the players returning from the Olympics – which includes Oliver Ekman-Larsson as well as Matthews and Nylander – he recalls the hangover from last year’s 4 Nations Faceoff.

“I definitely thought there was fatigue with these guys coming back from 4 Nations. You never know,” he said with reference to his Olympians. “We’ll see. [Matthews is] riding a pretty good high right now with winning so he’s feeling good.”

Though some of the players look at the season’s final stretch as a chance to start over with a mostly full complement of healthy players, others look at the enhanced reputations that only claiming the big prizes like the Olympics can bring.

“I really liked what the Hughes brothers said actually,” Woll said in reference to what the pair said about Matthews after Sunday’s Olympic final. “He’s a winner. He’s just proven that and led Team USA to a gold medal. So pretty awesome for him; I know it’s a big step for him as a leader.

“He can add winner to his résumé, so pretty cool.”

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Matthews and Jack Hughes enjoyed their victory at a club in Miami on Monday, having arrived from Milan after Sunday’s overtime win over Canada.Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images