Wild star winger and goals leader Matt Boldy lands on injured reserve

Minnesota Wild star winger and leading goal scorer Matt Boldy has been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body ailment, the team announced on Friday. That means he'll miss at least the next four games.

Boldy must've gotten hurt in Thursday night's blowout loss against the Jets, despite finishing the game and tallying a late assist. He now joins Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin, and Zach Bogosian as the fourth Wild regular currently on IR.

So far this season, Boldy has played in all of Minnesota's 48 games. He played in all 82 last season and hasn't missed a game due to injury since a seven-game absence in October 2023.

The 12th overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Boston College, Boldy is in the middle of the best season of his career at 24 years old. He's scored 27 goals this season, matching his total from last year and putting him just four off of tying his career high of 31 (set in 2022-23). He also has 24 assists for a total of 51 points, which puts him easily on pace to break last season's career high of 73.

Kirill Kaprizov has one more point than Boldy, but the latter has arguably been the MVP of the Wild's season up to this point to due to his consistency and penchant for scoring goals in big moments. Boldy has three game-winning goals this season and has scored in all situations (18 at even strength, 7 on the power play, 2 shorthanded). He has 157 total shots on goal and is a plus-12.

As long as this injury isn't severe, Boldy will represent the United States at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Italy.

Eriksson Ek will miss Saturday's game in Buffalo, but he can return as soon as Monday since his injury is retroactive to Jan. 8. Bogosian is also reportedly close to returning, while Brodin will be out for a while.

As reinforcements, the Wild have recalled forwards Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Hunter Haight from AHL Iowa, as well as defenseman David Jiricek. Aubel-Kubel is a journeyman veteran who looked solid in four games earlier this season. Haight is a 21-year-old prospect who has two NHL games to his name, both coming in October.

Without Boldy or Eriksson Ek, the Wild's top power-play unit will likely consist of Kaprizov, Quinn Hughes, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan Hartman, and Vladimir Tarasenko. Both Boldy and Eriksson Ek will also be missed on the penalty kill.

The reeling Wild, who are 2-3-3 in their last eight, are in for a challenge on Saturday against the red-hot Sabres, who have won 15 of their last 17.