Matt Boldy adds to early injury concerns for Wild
Matt Boldy suffered an undisclosed upper-body injury during the third period of the Minnesota Wild's 7-4 loss in Toronto on Saturday night and now there is concern that he could miss some time.
"I am getting the sense that Matt Boldy will be out of the lineup for a little bit," Wild insider Michael Russo tweeted Monday morning.
Head coach Dean Evason didn't have an update on Boldy following the Saturday, so the next update should come when Evason speaks after Monday's practice in Montreal as the Wild play the Canadiens on Tuesday night. Minnesota also plays home games against the Kings on Thursday and the Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Boldy was the right wing on the second line, playing alongside Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Johansson. If Boldy does need time to heal, Russo believes Freddy Gaudreau could move up to the second line while Brandon Duhaime slides up from fourth line right wing to the third line.
Oct 14, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Minnesota Wild forward Matt Boldy (12) pursues the puck ahead of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner (16) in the second period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Another option would be to move Marco Rossi from third line center to the top line between Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello, and then shift Ryan Hartman from the top line center to the second line right wing.
Or as Russo tweeted, "who knows right now...what a mess."
The Wild are already depleted on the blue line with Jared Spurgeon considered week to week with an injury. Spurgeon missed the first two games of the season and there's still no timeline for his return. That forced the Wild to play against Florida and Toronto with a top D pair of Jonas Brodin and Brock Faber, with second and third pairings of Jacob Middleton and Alex Goligoski, and Calen Addison and Jon Merrill.
