Wild To Activate Matt Boldy From Injured Reserve

The Wild are expected to activate winger Matt Boldy from injured reserve before tonight’s matchup against the Panthers, Joe Smith of The Athletic reports. They had a roster spot open after demoting Hunter Haight and Ben Jones to the minors yesterday.

Much was made about how the Wild would handle losing two pillars of its top-six forward group when Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek landed on IR last week. Luckily, they didn’t have to worry too much as their stints were brief. Eriksson Ek returned to the lineup for Thursday’s overtime thriller against the Red Wings, while Boldy’s absence due to his lower-body injury ends after only four games. He last played on Jan. 15 against the Jets.

Boldy will reunite with Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson on the second line, comprising what’s been head coach John Hynes’ most-used trio this season – and for good reason. In 256 minutes together at 5-on-5, they’ve controlled 55.0% of expected goals and have an incredible +14 goal differential, outscoring opponents 17-3, per MoneyPuck.

Minnesota now has a fully healthy forward group once again. They haven’t been able to say that very often this season, only having all options available up front in 10 out of 52 games. For an offense that’s ninth in the league since the beginning of January at 3.55 goals per game, Boldy’s return should help prop up that momentum.

He remains Minnesota’s clear-cut secondary offensive weapon behind Kirill Kaprizov, sitting tied with him for the team lead in goals with 27 and sitting second in points with 51 in 48 games. If he can keep up his career-best 17.2% shooting rate, he’ll likely eclipse the point per game mark for the first time in his five-year career.