The two best players on the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be playing against one another for the first time in over a decade, and one side is very excited for it.
Auston Matthews and William Nylander are representing their countries over at the 2026 Winter Olympics right now, and thanks to an unlikely series of events they are actually going to be playing against one another very early in the knockout stage.
Nylander's Sweden has been slightly underperforming after a big loss against rival Finland and not having enough of a goal differential to rocket up the standings. Now, there's what would've been a potential gold-medal game happening in the quarterfinals.
Before the puck drops Wednesday afternoon, Nylander reflected on how he feels about facing his Toronto teammate in one of the biggest hockey games of his career.
Nylander is excited to face Matthews in massive game at the Olympics
William Nylander on playing Auston Matthews for the first time since Under-18 Worlds in 2014: “It’ll be a lot of fun. I think 12 years ago, I probably didn’t even know that we were going to be teammates. So now after playing, I don’t know, 10 years together, it’s going to be very…
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 17, 2026
“It’ll be a lot of fun. I think 12 years ago, I probably didn’t even know that we were going to be teammates. So now after playing, I don’t know, 10 years together, it’s going to be very special and a lot of fun," Nylander said, via The Athletic's Michael Russo.
As Russo referenced, the last time this happened was during the 2014 IIHF World Under-18 Championship as the two top prospects collided in Finland. It was during the semifinals match and a United States team led by Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk was able to earn a 4-1 win over Nylander and his Team Sweden. But, it was Nylander who finished the tournament as the leading scorer with an insane six goals and 16 points in just seven games.
Now, 12 years later and having gone through the ups and massive downs of being in the NHL and not having lifted the Stanley Cup yet, they're returning to the point where they get to represent their country on a star-studded squad.
Meanwhile, Canada will be facing a downtrodden Czechia team who they might just walk all over on their way to the semifinal. So, good luck to the two Leafs as they try to not hurt each other too bad in an effort to win an Olympic medal.
Now, we're just a little disappointed that they both can't finish with a medal around their neck -- and we would certainly be fine with them getting silver and bronze. Now, just one of them can have the opportunity.