{"id":231689,"date":"2025-10-17T14:29:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/231689\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T14:29:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:29:08","slug":"wilds-matt-boldy-is-driven-to-be-the-best-whats-his-ceiling-a-superstar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/231689\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild\u2019s Matt Boldy is driven to be the best \u2014 what\u2019s his ceiling? \u2018A superstar\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 Kirill Kaprizov is the Minnesota Wild\u2019s best player, and the NHL\u2019s highest-paid player.<\/p>\n

But watching Matt Boldy the past couple of years, especially the playoffs last spring and the start to this season, he doesn\u2019t seem that far behind. Teammates and opponents alike have seen what he\u2019s growing into.<\/p>\n

\u201cA superstar,\u201d teammate Brock Faber said. \u201cThe sky is the limit, being that big and that good on the puck, that good of hands, that much of a goal scorer. He\u2019s got the tools to be one of the best players in the league. And he\u2019s been that to start the year. That\u2019s not surprising to anyone here. He\u2019s one of the most underrated \u2014 if not the most underrated \u2014 players in the league, from what he does on a night-in, night-out basis, and the amount he\u2019s talked about. I think he kind of likes it, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t just about numbers, though they do reflect it. After progressing from 39 to 63 to 69 to 73 points in his first four seasons, he has eight in four games in 2025-26. He\u2019s also scored at least 27 goals in each of the past three seasons and had five goals and seven points in six playoff games in the spring.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also not just about size (6-foot-2, 201 pounds) or skill.<\/p>\n

President of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin said what he\u2019s seeing from the 24-year-old winger is maturity and playing \u201cwinning hockey\u201d all over the ice. He\u2019s an example. A leader. He\u2019s driven and determined to get to the hard areas of the ice.<\/p>\n

Only a few years ago, Guerin had a tough-love talk with Boldy<\/a> after the team\u2019s playoff loss to the Dallas Stars, telling him he had to get his \u201cnose dirty.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is no longer an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the guys that drives the bus for us,\u201d Guerin said. \u201cHe\u2019s on every night. I don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s so much him trying to put up points. I feel like it\u2019s a bigger thing of him trying to take the team to another level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guerin points to the 4 Nations Face-Off last winter as a turning point. Boldy got to be around the game\u2019s top players, like Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel and Matthew Tkachuk. Many of his U.S. teammates had won Stanley Cups. Boldy said he picked their minds and paid attention to how they prepared, practiced, played.<\/p>\n

Faber noticed during the tournament that Boldy was getting plenty of attention, too. \u201cPeople realized that, \u2018Holy s\u2014, this guy is right up there with all the players,\u2019\u201d Faber said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Matt Boldy and Sidney Crosby go toe-to-toe at the 4 Nations Face-Off. (Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And one of the league\u2019s best bargains, at $7 million AAV for the next five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want to be the best player you can be,\u201d Boldy said. \u201cI\u2019ve been that way my whole life. You want to be the best player on the ice, the best player in the league. You set your goals high. You don\u2019t set them low. It just pushes you to work harder and try to be a better player.\u201d<\/p>\n

There wasn\u2019t one conversation or moment that sparked Boldy as he\u2019s evolved. But you can tell how much winning is a driving force for him now.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to go through that,\u201d Guerin said. \u201cExperience is a great thing. Everybody wishes you had a 40-year-old brain and 20-year-old legs, but you have to go through \u2014 I don\u2019t know if I want to call them failures, but those struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing through those struggles and then pushing yourself to do what needs to be done, I think that\u2019s elevated him. He\u2019s willing to go to the places, to play a certain way, to get where he is. He\u2019s going to have to continue that to go even further.\u201d<\/p>\n

By nature, Boldy is more of a by-example leader than a vocal one, but those around the team see him taking more ownership in his way. It\u2019s not just that he invited top prospect Zeev Buium to live with him over the summer, paying it forward for when Jordan Greenway did the same for him. It\u2019s Boldy\u2019s work ethic, how he\u2019s always one of the last players on the ice in practice. As is Kaprizov.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen your top guys do the right things, that\u2019s very impactful,\u201d Guerin said.\u201dWhen they do the wrong things, it\u2019s very impactful. And Matt is doing the right things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boldy said his game is better and his offense is better when he\u2019s playing the right way, winning puck battles. His focus is on being predictable and making his teammates better.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, all I want to do is win,\u201d he said. \u201cThe other things come with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans can see it.<\/p>\n

On Monday night, during a shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings, when Boldy popped on the ice for the team\u2019s second attempt (Kaprizov was first), the sellout crowd at Grand Casino Arena came alive. They started chanting his name, \u201cBoldy! Boldy!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants the puck. He wants to be in the big moments,\u201d Faber said. \u201cHe wants to go in the shootout with the game on the line. He wants to be on the ice in OT in an important game. He wants to be on the ice in a playoff series. He lives for those moments and shows up for those moments. Just special.\u201d<\/p>\n

From \u2018Boldy Bars\u2019 to bad dancing to a #mnwild<\/a> turn, best friends dish on Matt Boldy\u2019s rise to \u201cstar in the making\u201d
Enjoyed collecting stories from @tzegras11<\/a> @colecaufield<\/a> Jack Hughes Spencer Knight + @AlexNewhook_<\/a>. @USAHockeyNTDP<\/a> @BC_MHockey<\/a> ($1 sub link) https:\/\/t.co\/luBSZ1cEBQ<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/AuuXVkZyDY<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) March 31, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n

Boldy has expanded his role over the past year, becoming a key penalty killer. And he takes a lot of pride in the defensive side of his game. But the offensive gifts are what Boldy has been known for since his early days growing up outside Boston. Guerin has said he could see Boldy putting up 50 goals and 50 assists in a season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s so skilled. He tries certain things \u2026 I would have never tried to do some of the things he can do,\u201d Guerin said. \u201cIf he shoots it a little bit more, he\u2019s such a good playmaker, a creative guy and he sees things. But if he shoots the puck even more, I definitely think he can get 50 goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boldy had 17 shot attempts in Tuesday\u2019s loss in Dallas (10 on net). His line with Marco Rossi and Kaprizov was broken up during the game but reunited for Thursday\u2019s practice at Capital One Arena. Coach John Hynes likes how Marcus Johansson adds another dynamic as a \u201cpuck transporter\u201d on the second line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Vladimir Tarasenko and believes they\u2019ll eventually break through.<\/p>\n

The Wild have gone three games without an even-strength<\/a> goal, with their streak of nine straight power-play goals the third-longest since the 1933-1934 season. Three of Boldy\u2019s four goals this season have come with the man advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe puts himself in some of the best scoring areas I\u2019ve ever seen a player,\u201d Guerin said.<\/p>\n

Boldy has heard about Guerin\u2019s 50-50 comment and thinks he\u2019s capable, though it\u2019s not something he focuses on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in myself, but that\u2019s not in the back of my mind every game,\u201d he said. \u201cYou want to make the biggest difference you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where did Boldy\u2019s confidence come from?<\/p>\n

\u201cMy competitiveness,\u201d he said. \u201cI was raised that way. My dad raised all of us like that. We were raised not with the expectation, but that you should have the character in you that you should want to be the best player, biggest difference-maker. That\u2019s the baseline when you\u2019re a little kid, and I think it just grows and grows and grows.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does Boldy eventually grow into? What\u2019s his ceiling?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can be one of the top players in this league,\u201d Guerin said. \u201cYou tell me. What wingers are better than him?\u201d<\/p>\n