The Toronto Maple Leafs center won the Hart Trophy, voted as the NHL most valuable player by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player in the League as voted by members of the NHL Players' Association.
But being back at Amalie Arena to speak to the media afterward had Matthews thinking about what might have been for the Maple Leafs this season as much as his individual achievements.
"I always try to set goals and just try to be the best that I can be," Matthews said. "But I think I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a little bit of, I guess, angst wishing you were still playing, obviously, right now. Especially being back here."
The last time Matthews was in the building, the Maple Leafs had a chance for their first Stanley Cup Playoff series win since 2004 but lost 4-3 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round. The Lightning won 2-1 in Game 7 at Toronto to eliminate the Maple Leafs and continue their quest to win the Stanley Cup for the third straight season.
Tampa Bay trails the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Final heading into Game 4 of the best-of-7 series here Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS).
"Of course, I've been watching," Matthews said. "It's tough to say. I've been watching for so long. Six, seven years now of watching at this time of year. So I think everybody knows, understands and realizes how hard it is. You need a lot of things to go your way and certain things.