The Matt Boldy performance that stood out the most last season wasn’t his two-goal, three-point performances in wins at Calgary and Columbus. It wasn’t the 18 goals and 48 points he posted after the New Year. It wasn’t the success he found playing on the Wild’s top line with Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek.
Rather, it was one with zero positive moments: His complete no-show in a 2-1 victory on Feb. 7 in Chicago.
The Wild had just returned from their bye week, but Boldy remained on vacation. It was the type of performance Boldy can’t have and the Wild can’t afford. An off night? Sure. But this checked-out version of the winger had to be considered an embarrassment by a team that had seen enough positives to sign him to a seven-year, $49 million contract in January 2023.
It was suggested on a Wild-related podcast — you might be familiar with “Judd’s Hockey Show” on SKOR North — that Boldy should have spent the next game watching from the press box. A reminder that deciding not to show up for a game wouldn’t be tolerated.
Wild coach John Hynes, who had taken over for Dean Evason in late November after a 5-10-4 start, had other ideas. He put Boldy back on the ice two nights later and was rewarded with a goal and an assist in a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Matt Boldy creates a scoring chance against Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord on Oct. 12. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)
This was the version of Boldy the Wild expect to see on a nightly basis and one they have seen far more of since that game at United Center.
Boldy had 13 goals and 36 points in his final 32 games after that subpar effort. He opened this season with a goal and two assists in an opening night win over Columbus and added a goal and an assist in a shootout loss against Seattle on Saturday.
Boldy, 23, is no longer playing on the top line with Kaprizov, having been moved to the second line with Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson. Johansson and Boldy showed chemistry two years ago when the former was acquired near the trade deadline.
Boldy did not play in the preseason because of a lower-body injury, but that hasn’t impacted his start. He is the type of player every team covets because he’s a skilled guy who also can use his size (6-2, 201 pounds) to play a rugged game.
Boldy’s skill was on display in the first period of the opener when he scored the Wild’s first goal of the season on a no-look shot that beat Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins. Boldy looked like a quarterback, using his eyes to indicate he was going to pass as he shot the puck.
Boldy, who has a goal and an assist on the Wild’s top power-play unit, made his prettiest pass of the season on Ryan Hartman’s goal Saturday in the third period. He took a pass from Johansson behind the net, drew defenseman Will Borgen toward him, then made a no-look pass from his backhand into the slot, past the Kraken’s Shane Wright and right onto Hartman’s stick for a snap shot that beat goalie Joey Daccord.
Matt Boldy came oh-so-close to scoring the overtime winner against Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord on Oct. 12. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)
“I just want to win,” Boldy said after Thursday’s game. “I think everyone in this locker room wants to win. We’re so close. We all get along so well. (We’re) competitive and we didn’t have the year we expected last year, so all of us in here just want to win games and have a successful year.”
The more Boldy contributes as he did in the first two games, the more likely that is to happen.
Hynes and general manager Bill Guerin have both talked about their expectations for Boldy, and Hynes is eventually planning to play him on a penalty kill that was among the NHL’s worst last season and has given up two goals on five chances this season.
Boldy had a career-high 31 goals in 81 games in 2022-23 and last season had 29 goals and a career-high 69 points in 75 games. He has the talent to score 40 or more goals and some expect that to happen in his fourth NHL season.
That isn’t always easy because Boldy needs to play a physical style that includes taking punishment and winning puck battles. The fact he has the ability to make highly skilled plays once the puck is on his stick is what makes him such a threat.
“He’s got everything,” Johansson said. “He’s got the work ethic and the skill and the compete.He’s just got everything. He’s the goal scorer, he’s a passer. … There’s no ceiling for that guy. He can be as good as he wants.”
That starts with the realization that what happened last February in Chicago can never happen again.
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