Wild winger Matt Boldy finds scoring groove under new coach John Hynes

Wild coach John Hynes made the comment to the media in Seattle last Sunday night, but word of what Hynes said eventually reached Matt Boldy on Wednesday afternoon.

Boldy's reaction?

"I take that as a compliment," he said after the team practiced at Tria Rink in St. Paul.

After a methodical 3-0 win against the Kraken, Hynes praised Boldy's performance by noting how the 22-year-old winger is playing more and more like his linemate Joel Eriksson Ek. That astute observation pinpoints how Boldy has become a scoring machine in Hynes' system: by going to and getting the puck.

"You look at Ekky and his game, it's the most complete game on our team," Boldy said. "He's our most valuable player, in my opinion. He's got what, 15 goals right now, or something like that. He leads our team in goals. He's the first guy out there when you need to win a faceoff. He's the best at everything realistically.

"To be compared to a guy like that, it's awesome. That's the goal. If you can play like him, you'll play a lot of minutes and do a lot of good things."

Eriksson Ek is the Wild's gold standard when it comes to excelling at both ends of the rink.

His 14 goals are tops on the team, and the center has been the most consistent contributor to the up-and-down power play. But his defending, especially in a matchup situation, is still his bread-and-butter.

When Eriksson Ek is on the ice at 5-on-5, the Wild's goals-against per 60 minutes is 2.16, which is among the best for Wild forwards (per Evolving-Hockey.com).

But over the past seven games, the Wild have had their most favorable split when Boldy has been in action: a whopping 90% of the goals scored when he's played have belonged to the Wild, according to Natural Stat Trick. In that time, Boldy was credited with five of his team-leading 18 takeaways.

"It's something I think I've always liked to do," Boldy said. "I've always kind of had a knack for picking pucks off of guys' sticks and stick lifts and stuff like that. That's a good place to get it and if you can get turnovers there, it leads to a lot of offense."

Case in point: his goal last Sunday vs. Seattle.

In Wild territory, Boldy swiped the puck away from Matty Beniers before feeding Kirill Kaprizov, who returned the pass to Boldy once they were in Seattle's end. Boldy deposited that handoff in the net after deking around the goaltender. His presence in the neutral zone was also key at the beginning of the road trip, with pressure applied Dec. 5 at Calgary leading to Marcus Foligno's goal in a 5-2 victory.

"The more responsible you play without [the puck], the more you're going to be able to get back on offense," Hynes said. "Usually in those situations, you can create offense versus an unorganized defense, which then you get really good looks."

Boldy has skated with Eriksson Ek more than any other forward on the Wild this season, the duo most recently teaming up with Kaprizov after a stint with Marcus Johansson.

The more Boldy plays with Eriksson Ek, the more he picks up on what makes Eriksson Ek successful.

"A lot of offense can come from D-zone play," said Boldy, who posted a career-high 31 goals last season after signing a seven-year, $49 million contract extension in January. "You think about it, you're in the offensive zone, you want to make plays, you're trying to score goals, and sometimes that means you're not making the best play. You're not in the best area. So, if you can turn that over and go quick, sometimes you get good rushes and you get opportunities to score."

And what does Eriksson Ek have to say about all this?

"I think he can be more of a skilled player."

That skill has been the cherry on top of these turnovers Boldy creates with his backcheck, a finesse finish after working to win the puck.

"He can make something out of nothing," Eriksson Ek said. "He can make plays everywhere."

Through a 5-2 start to Hynes' tenure, Boldy's six goals and eight points lead the Wild, with Boldy becoming the face of the team's fresh start. The Wild ended their seven-game losing streak the same night Boldy ditched his 10-game goalless skid that started after he returned from a two-week injury absence.

Since then, both have been on the upswing.

Coincidence?

Probably not.

"Things are always easier when you're winning games," Boldy said. "A lot of credit to everyone in the room to be able to turn that page and play as well as we have.

"When things are going well in here and everyone's happy and the mood's high, it's a little bit easier to go out there and play a little more free with some confidence."