The viral hot-mic moment from the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, where Matthew Tkachuk was caught trolling Leon Draisaitl, has garnered plenty of attention. In some ways, it has reignited the fierce rivalry between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, this time on the international stage.
However, this time it feels a little different.
During Team USA’s commanding 5-1 victory over Germany in the preliminary round, Tkachuk was caught trash-talking Draisaitl near the benches. “Always the bridesmaid, eh Leon? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.”
As fans who followed the Stanley Cup Finals over the past two seasons know, these two teams have gone at it in consecutive years, with the Panthers coming out as back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. In year one, the Oilers took Florida to seven games. Last season it was six. Draisaitl and Edmonton came agonizingly close but fell short each time. Tkachuk fully understood how it would have felt not to get there, having narrowly missed with the Panthers in his first season with the team.
The line, picked up by NBC and other broadcasts, quickly went viral, with fans calling it everything from “gold medal-worthy” to “savage”.
Should Tkachuk Be Talking, Given Where the Panthers Are At This Season?
As nasty and fiercely accurate as the chrip was, context changes everything.
Tkachuk’s words landed hard, even if Draisaitl shrugged them off publicly. But for Tkachuk and the Panthers, they might want to avoid throwing stones this season. Florida enters the Olympic break at 29-25-3, good for just 61 points through 57 games. They’re mired in eighth place in the Atlantic Division and well outside the Eastern Conference wild-card picture—trailing the final spot by 8+ points.
Advanced models like MoneyPuck peg their playoff odds at around 15-16%, with Cup aspirations hovering near 1%. These days, the Panthers are looking more like potential deadline sellers than three-peat contenders. To be fair, injuries have plagued their season, but they are where they are.