Wild winger Matt Boldy is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body harm, the staff announced Monday. He was an surprising absence from Monday’s observe and there’s no readability on when he suffered the harm.
It’s robust information for the Wild, which missed out on the playoffs final season for simply the second time since 2012. Their poor report was largely resulting from accidents. Captain Jared Spurgeon was restricted to simply 16 video games, whereas core items Jonas Brodin and Mats Zuccarello additionally missed important chunks of the marketing campaign.
Boldy, the No. 12 decide within the 2019 draft, has rapidly grown right into a core piece for the Wild. The 23-year-old set profession highs final season with 40 assists and 69 factors in 75 video games, ending second on the staff in scoring behind Kirill Kaprizov.
He shoots the puck with aplomb – his 595 pictures on aim rank fortieth within the league since he made his NHL debut on Jan. 6, 2022. His robust offensive exhibiting has been backed up by good possession metrics. The Wild have managed 53.2% of shot makes an attempt and 56.1% of anticipated objectives with Boldy on the ice at even energy over the previous three seasons, per Hockey Reference.
Boldy’s significance is magnified on a Wild roster that doesn’t have a ton of different high-skill scoring threats. A possible season-opening absence places much more stress on the likes of Kaprizov and the getting old Zuccarello to place up factors.
There shall be a number of choices to take Boldy’s place in Minnesota’s high six if he’s not prepared for opening night time. Essentially the most intriguing is actually Liam Ohgren, Minnesota’s first-rounder in 2022. The sharp-shooting Swede made his NHL debut on the tail finish of final season, posting a aim and an help in 4 video games. He’s a probable candidate for a roster spot for no different purpose than his low-cost entry-level cap hit, however a short-term emptiness increased up within the lineup might be his to fill, no less than to start out. The 20-year-old had 12 objectives and 19 factors in 26 video games whereas on mortgage to Sweden’s Färjestad BK final season.
Boldy is coming into the second yr of a seven-year, $49M extension he signed in January 2023. With a week-to-week designation this far out from the beginning of the common season, a long-term injured reserve placement appears unlikely, even when he’s not prepared for the season opener.
