Brady Tkachuk backs Auston Matthews while calling out Leafs’ lack of response after shocking injury incident

Brady Tkachuk did not need long to weigh in once Auston Matthews went down. The Toronto Maple Leafs captain’s injury stirred more than concern. It raised a question that lingers in every locker room. Who answers when your star gets hit like that?Last week’s collision with Radko Gudas left Auston Matthews with a knee injury and ended his season. The response, or lack of it, became the story just as much as the hit itself. And from Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, the message was clear. Silence on the ice speaks loudly.Tkachuk addressed the situation on the Wingmen Podcast, where he often shares unfiltered thoughts alongside his brother, Matthew Tkachuk. The NHL had already handed Gudas a five game suspension, but for Tkachuk, that was only part of it. What happens in real time still matters.“That’s why I’m happy I’m not the leader of player safety, because it feels like what decision you make, somebody’s going to be upset,” Tkachuk said.He did not stop there. His focus shifted quickly from league discipline to player responsibility. Hockey has always carried that unwritten code, even as the game evolves.“If somebody is going to do that and stuff like that, I feel like a lot of that is just you’ve got to police it yourselves during the game. And during that play, your captain gets taken out like that, I mean, gotta have a way better response. Personally, I know how I’d feel if I got hit like that and nobody really jumped in there, I’d be pretty pissed. I love the way Auston plays.”Tkachuk knows Matthews beyond rivalry lines. They shared the ice for Team USA at the Winter Games in Italy not long ago and came away with gold. There is respect there, and maybe that is why his words carried a sharper edge.The Leafs, meanwhile, have faced growing criticism. No one stepped in. No immediate pushback. In a league where emotion often drives momentum, that absence stood out.“I’ve been in that position before,” Tkachuk added. “You’re pissed off you’re in that spot and you have that natural anger, and you want to take it out. That was the perfect opportunity to stand up for your captain … just didn’t see it.”All of this now drifts into Saturday night, when Ottawa hosts Toronto at the Canadian Tire Centre. The temperature around that game feels a little higher. Not because of standings, but because of something less measurable. Pride, response, and the memory of a moment that still has not settled.