Will Auston Matthews use Team USA experience to improve Maple Leafs legacy?

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has finally won something of significance. 

At the Milan Cortina Games, Matthews captained Team USA to its first Olympic gold medal in men's hockey since 1980, logging seven points (three goals and four assists) during the tournament.  

"I think it doesn't matter what anyone says now, Auston Matthews is a winner," center Jack Hughes, who scored the overtime winner in a 2-1 victory over Team Canada, said Sunday (h/t Dylan Nazareth of TheLeafsnation). "Auston Matthews is an Olympic gold medalist, he's a winner."

Winning gold improves Matthews' legacy. Still, that's not enough for some fans. They won't give him full credit until he guides the Maple Leafs to their first Stanley Cup win since the 1966-67 season. Could the lessons he learned in Milan Cortina help him accomplish that goal? 

Auston Matthews' Maple Leafs discuss how Team USA experience could be beneficial

"I think it helps. You get the taste of winning and whatever it takes. Bounces. Luck. I think the whole experience, that's how I felt," Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson said at his first practice since playing for Team Sweden in the Olympics (via The Hockey News' David Alter). "Whenever I get a chance to win something or be a part of something special, I think that's what you take with you. You feed off and build off it. It's great he got the experience and was a big part of it."

The Maple Leafs need Matthews to draw on his Team USA experience to help turn their season around. Entering the Olympic break, Toronto (27-21-9, 63 points) was tied with the Ottawa Senators (28-22-7, 63 points) for sixth in the Atlantic Division. 

If the playoffs started Monday, the Maple Leafs would be out. MoneyPuck gives them just a 10 percent chance to make the postseason. 

"I mean, hopefully it just brings that jam and that winning mentality here, and we can find a way to string some wins together and get to a playoff spot — that's really our hope," Maple Leafs left winger Matthew Knies said of Matthews, per Alter. "He's been playing this whole break, so I think he's obviously ready and can jump right back in to give us a boost." 

Matthews providing that boost during a late-season playoff push would help him continue to reshape his legacy after winning Olympic gold.