Analyst with Hot Take on Auston Matthews as a standalone star

After nearly a decade of being considered a can’t-win player, Auston Matthews can finally say he’s a winner after leading Team USA to a gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Matthews didn’t lead the Americans to victory by any means, but he played an important role in a team that won everything, and he always will. While many in the hockey world are starting to give him his due — and rightfully so — former NHL player-turned-analyst Ray Ferraro saw nothing to make him believe Matthews is capable of returning to his ways of carrying the Maple Leafs as a true superstar in his own right moving forward.

Ferraro said:

“Well, he’s a winner; they just won. What I saw, though, is a player who didn’t step outside the team, right? I think maybe this is the stage he’s in, he’s not a standalone player at the moment. He belongs to the group, very well. He was excellent, especially early in the gold medal game. I loved him. But he’s not a standalone player who takes charge; I don’t think that’s where he is. Is he better than Jack Eichel? I don’t think so. It doesn’t matter whether he’s scored 60 goals before or not; it is now the case that he is not. And so in the context of a team like that, I think this is a way to see where Matthews is, because if he returns to Toronto, it won’t be the same. How can it be the same?”

The 28-year-old Matthews is coming off a solid tournament in which he scored seven points (three goals, four assists) in six games on his way to winning gold.

Back to reality in Toronto for Auston Matthews

While the past two weeks have been an incredible experience, capped off with gold medal celebrations, Matthews will soon return to reality where he and the Maple Leafs are on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time since his 2016 call-up.

Everyone involved must hope that Matthews getting a taste of winning will translate to Toronto, but let’s not kid ourselves: his supporting cast from Team USA played a huge role in that success, as Ferraro noted.

That can be said for any player who suits up for one of the top nations at the Olympics, but if fans are hoping he will suddenly tear up the competition like Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon might, they should probably adjust their expectations.

Matthews is still a great player and one of the best in the game, capable of scoring and producing goals every night. That said, he’s no longer the physically imposing, dominant force he once was, and with the supporting cast around him having only gotten worse in recent years – especially since he no longer has setup man Mitch Marner – it’s all slowly starting to reflect in his numbers and overall play.

Next: Insider offers theory on why Connor McDavid has struggled to get over the hump