Last year, Matt Boldy didn’t start off well. He did manage two points in the season’s opening two games in 2023–24, but an early injury sidelined him. Boldy would take a two-week break and resume carefully. The 30-goal scorer had seven assists but only one goal through 12 games.
He looked like a star after he got back into his game, which coincidentally happened just about the time the Minnesota Wild changed coaches. In 63 games, he scored 28 goals and 61 points, which is equivalent to 36 goals and 79 points every 82 games. If only he could have managed to put it together for an entire season, it was a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been.
Boldy sustained a lower-body injury early in the season that forced him to play on a week-to-week basis. But don’t panic if you were fearing a rerun of last year. Not only did the goal-scoring winger have a fantastic first game of the season. It served as a declaration of his goals: this is the year of breakthrough success.
Not only did he score three points, but it was also his 12th career such performance—which already ranks him ninth in team history. It was that all three of those goals were sparked by Boldy. His objective was a rocket from the slot that was fired so fast that Elvis Merzāikins could not even react. Joel Eriksson Ek’s goal was the result of a sequence that began with a clean board fight won by Boldy. Additionally for his finale, he fired a beautiful cross-slot pass to Mats Zuccarello for a one-timer goal.
While some players stir the liquid, others receive numbers. Boldy last night appeared to be the latter. Boldy was an attacking engine all night long, even outside of his scoring plays. He set up a number of plays in which his shooters struggled to control the pucks that were being passed to them. Forty-three seconds into the game, Zach Werenski stopped Boldy just as he was about to go on a breakaway.
He was a natural at transition, moving freely into the zone during power plays and shouldering a large portion of the puck-carrying load on his line. Eriksson Ek deserves special recognition for setting up a fantastic screen on Boldy’s goal, which will not appear on the stat sheet, and Marcus Johansson for his two assists. But after the Wild’s 3-2 victory, it was impossible to ignore the opinion that Boldy was the best player in the game.
And that’s a sheet of ice that, as if you needed reminding, included Kirill Kaprizov, who did not appear to be quite in mid-season form.
When general manager Bill Guerin recently stated that he thought Boldy might record 50 goals and 50 assists, fans may have raised an eyebrow. That’s not even what Kaprizov has done yet.
Very few people actually do. Only eleven players have succeeded in doing so throughout the Salary Cap Era. Even if the list is remarkable, the names that aren’t on it may be even more so. Stamkos Steven. Matthews Auston. Kane Patrick. Kucherov, Nikita. These are all MVPs, and Guerin believes Boldy can reach an unreached peak.
However, there’s reason to think Boldy is headed toward that achievement. Between the ages of 20 and 22, 103 forwards have recorded more than 3,000 minutes since 2007–08. Observing the Goals Above Replacement measure for Evolving-Hockey, we can see his per-minute rating is 11th.
Once more, consider a few of the names in Boldy’s domain that aren’t underlined. Boldy is staring down at the other two, but Sasha Barkov, Johnny Gaudreau, Jack Hughes, and Brayden Point are also in that top 25. Though not everyone who performs this well in their early 20s achieves these levels, Boldy’s inclusion in this group provides him a fighting shot.
Matt Boldy is poised for a breakout season with the Minnesota Wild. Despite struggling with injuries last year, he finished strong with 28 goals and 61 points in 63 games. In the first game of this season, he made a statement with three points, showcasing his skills as a catalyst for the team’s offense. With his speed, shot, and playmaking abilities, Boldy looks like a star.
General manager Bill Guerin’s prediction of 50 goals and 50 assists isn’t far-fetched, considering Boldy’s metrics rank him among the top young forwards since 2007-08. His age-23 season could mirror those of David Pastrnak, Sasha Barkov, and Leon Draisaitl, who all had breakout years at the same age. Boldy’s performance suggests he’s ready to take control of the Wild’s offense and make this a memorable season.
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