Wild Fans, Meet Matthew Boldy

Pros to Matt Boldy’s Game

Accurate/Heavy Shot

The 6′ 2″, 192lb winger is being touted as a “Jack of all Offence”, but what might be the best characteristic of his game is the huge shot he possesses. Much like Ryan Donato, Boldy has an Accurate and Heavy shot that he’ll throw on the net frequently. From what we witnessed from Donato, throwing shot after shot on net is viable. I mean look what it did in his first game.

If it doesn’t find twine, it could create easy rebounds for your teammates on the ice.

Here are some looks at Boldy ripping rope with the USNTDP

Boldy has possessed a scary shot for some time and I fully believe that if Cole Caufield (a good friend of Matt Boldy’s) wasn’t in the draft, Boldy would have had the best shot in the draft.

Sneaky Good Passing

It’s hard to find prospect highlights of saucy passes, but believe me, Matt Boldy is an incredibly underrated passer. It isn’t so much that he isn’t credited as being a good passer, he just has other aspects of his game that hide his ability to get the puck on his teammate’s sticks. He has incredible vision and an innate ability to get the puck from his tape to his recipients’ to the back of the net. He isn’t nasty like Mikael Granlund where you would see disgusting feed after feed, but Boldy is no slouch either. And the likelihood that Boldy and Kaprizov could be joining the Wild at the same time would be dangerous.

Big Man Agility and Hands

Unlike passing highlights, finding clips of Boldy dangling during his time on the USNTDP is readily available. His agility and hands remind some of Marcus Foligno’s goals in recent history.

Unlike Marcus, Boldy is about 30lbs lighter than Moose and a bit better on his blades and edges and can work defenders from outside-in or vice versa.

For his size and frame, Matt Boldy has some silky mitts and sick moves. He isn’t gigantic like Jordan Greenway where he’ll outmuscle about everyone to the net and he definitely isn’t Jason Zucker where he’ll speed around you, but he’s a good mix of the two. As TSN hockey broadcast analyst Craig Button would tell you, Matthew Boldy is reminiscent of…….

NHL comparable is Mikko Rantanen

Craig Button likened Boldy to Rantanen because both fiercely protect the puck, can slickly handle the puck and have great control the puck in tight spaces. Now, seeing the great season Rantanen had, Wild fans should be incredibly excited by the prospect of having there own Mikko Rantanen.

When USNTDP coach John Wroblewski found out that Boldy was selected by the Wild, he was incredibly excited by the prospect of Boldy joining Jason Zucker, also a product of the USNTDP. Wroblewski stated, “I think Minnesota got a steal, He had first overall potential. The way that he plays the game is different than any other player I’ve ever seen. The puck is glued to him and then he gets into the offensive zone and then the magic happens.” And about Zucker, “I’m going to call Jason Zucker immediately and tell him to take this guy under his wing. Hopefully, Zuck will still be there … but I’m going to tell him to take this kid under his wing.” With the departure of Paul Fenton, it appears Jason Zucker will still be apart of the Wild for the foreseeable future, and possibly when Matt Boldy joins the roster.

Wrap Up

I understand there might be some hesitation on the Wild passing on Cole Caufield, who was being touted as having one of the most wicked shots in the draft, or Spencer Knight, who’s allegedly going to be the next great American goaltender. I had a double-take when I saw that Caufield was available and I’m certain my jaw was dropped when I saw they passed on him. But that was simply because I was completely unaware of who exactly Matthew Boldy was. After looking into him and his game, I’m incredibly excited for Boldy to join the Wild. With the young talent currently on the roster and the prospects that will be joining in the coming years, the Wild could be set for a solid rebound next season and the coming years.