We’re down to the final two-player report cards for the Minnesota Wild, which means it’s Matt Boldy’s turn. Despite some injury problems at the beginning of the season that had many worried and caused him to miss seven games, he bounced back well. He had points in three consecutive games following his return and kept it up sporadically throughout the season.
Behind Kirill Kaprizov, Marc-André Fleury, and possibly Joel Eriksson Ek, Boldy is one of the most well-known Wild players. Everyone is watching him to see what he’ll accomplish next, as he’s only 23 years old and has a lot of career left. In this article we’ll look at a rough part of his game, a strong part of his game, and come up with an overall grade for the season without a playoff experience involved. We’ll start with his lack of physicality and go from there.
Boldy Can Be More Physical
When a team has a player like Boldy, who can score and defend, it’s hard to find anything to be upset about. However, when reviewing his stats from the past season, there were a couple of areas he could improve on that would make him a near-perfect all-around player. The first area he needs to be better in is his physicality.
It may sound weird to say a scorer should be more physical, but it could help Boldy’s game and allow him to hang onto the puck even more than he already does. In the 75 games he played this past season, he only had 33 hits, compared to Connor McDavid, who had 118 hits in 76 games. Being more physical can help change the play’s momentum and turn it in their favor, which could help Boldy be more productive.
He could also improve in his blocked shots. While he does well defensively, he must put his body in front of the puck more. He only blocked 32 shots, which should have been higher. He doesn’t have to block every shot that gets taken while on the ice, but he needs to do more. Plus, the more he blocks, the more opportunities he has to force the puck to go the other way and have a breakaway.
A team can have all the offense in the world and still struggle because of a lack of defense. The Wild have strong defensemen, but they need help here and there, and that comes in the form of blocked shots, which Boldy needs to help with this coming season.
Boldy has Strong Puck Skills
Boldy is one of a handful of players who improved their scoring over the past season. He was second on the roster in points, behind Kaprizov by 27 points, but nearly everyone has trouble keeping up with Kaprizov’s scoring pace when he gets on a roll. Boldy had 29 goals, two shy of tying his career high of 31, and 40 assists, which was a career-high for a combined total of 69 points, again a career-high.
The other areas of his game he shined brightly in were his power play, where 10 of his goals and 25 of his points came from. He helped get the power play going when it struggled, and a lot of his success came from his willingness to take shots. He had 227 shots throughout the season, and that was right behind Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek. Of course, the power play can always use more shots, and he’ll have to help with that this coming season.
The final area of his game that deserves praise was his takeaways, in which he amassed an impressive and team-leading 61 this past season. Most players have high giveaways, which Boldy did, but he made up for it with the takeaways. He snatched the puck away from many players and turned that into scoring chances that helped his team.
Boldy’s Overall Grade
After looking over both Boldy’s struggles and successes, he earned a B, just like his teammate Eriksson Ek. Some may be wondering why it’s not higher since he improved most of his stats, but without a postseason, it’s hard to give anyone a grade higher than average. While it wasn’t only on Boldy’s shoulders or on anyone alone, the entire team needed to find ways to be better, and sometimes, if one player steps up, the whole roster can find a way to do the same.
Related: Wild Report Cards 2023-24: Joel Eriksson Ek
However, it wasn’t any lower either because, again, he did improve his stats and was also second on the roster in points. He was just one point shy of 70, and he helped get the offense going, just not consistently. Hopefully, he can find his scoring power again this coming season, set new career highs, and help his teammates do the same.
