A Bold(y) Statement

After Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov suffered a lower-body injury on March 8th, many suspected the Minnesota Wild to plummet; however, this was not the case. 21-year-old left-wing, Matt Boldy took matters into his own hands to prove that the Wild were not going anywhere in the standings.

In the nine games the Wild have played since Kaprizov’s injury, Boldy has registered 15 points, split up into 11 goals and five assists to create a percentage of 1.66 points per game. Previous to Kaprizov’s injury, Boldy was averaging .64 points per game, creating an increase of one point per game for Boldy since. Boldy also has a +/- rating of +10 in those nine games since the injury.

In addition to Boldy having 11 goals in nine games, six of them have come from two games alone, where he registered a hat trick in each one. On March 19th, Boldy registered his second career hat trick against the Capitals, and then only eight days later, notched his third with a natural hat trick against the Kraken.

While the bare numbers already show that Boldy is exceeding his expectations, it is important to look at some statistics that dive deeper into his impact on the team. According to Evolving Hockey, Boldy’s GAR (goals above replacement) is 8.9, meaning that he scores 8.9 more goals than a baseline player would if they were to replace him. This GAR places Boldy just below Kaprizov, who currently has a GAR of 12.7. Boldy’s SPAR (standing points above replacement) is also beneficial to the team as his is 2.9, meaning he registers 2.9 more points than another player if they were to replace him.

Only time will truly tell if Boldy’s statement to the league is just pure luck or if he will truly be able to help carry his team to the Stanley Cup.