Nino Noderreiter
Registered User
I know that we are all huge Boldy fans and love him and think he's great. But are we sure that we aren't yet properly talking about him in the way that we should?
Boldy has made things look easy from Day 1 playing top 6 minutes on a playoff team averaging over 70 points per 82 games and playing an extremely strong two-way game. Boldy has also done what most rookies struggle to do and actually been a line-driver in a lot of ways (though in Boldy's own unique way) where most rookies may score some points but struggle to drive positive play consistently especially at a playoff-contender level.
Fiala & Gaudreau are averaging over 110 & 60 points per 82 games in games playing with Boldy after averaging about 50 & 30 points per 82 games without him. Now part of that is the difference between Boldy and replacement players like Rask in that spot, but the majority of the difference is really Boldy. The majority of the difference is that Boldy is a unique player in which he pretty much makes consistent positive players in all 3 zones of the ice whether he has the puck or without the puck no matter what the current play happens to be. Boldy is a really strong player in generating transition chances both entering the puck with possession off the rush & generating chances but also using area passes to spring high danger chances for line mates.
He's great at finding soft spots without the puck and always makes quick decisions whether firing shots on net against a goalie that isn't set, changing the angle and throwing off the goalie, or firing a pass as soon as it touches his stick to an open player as he processes the game one-two plays ahead and causes defenses to scramble. He's great at protecting the puck on the wall off the cycle and funneling pucks to high-danger areas. He's great around the net & can score goals from all kinds of weird angles... he's great at finding space in the slot and getting pucks off. He's got a great release. He's a huge difference maker on the PP and one of our best players at moving the puck quickly to break down the PK box. He almost never turns the puck over in a way that leads to odd-man rushes or negative plays against.
In my opinion, a big part of the reason that Fiala/Gaudreau have seen the success they have is because Boldy is a player who makes quick-decisions consistently all over the ice that lead to positive plays that increase the teams chances to generate scoring chances. He's like a PG who already knows how the defense will collapse once the initial pass is made and whether he's finishing the play, making the pass to the cutter or the alley oop player at the rim, making a hockey pass that leads to the pass that scores, pushing the puck in transition or slowing things down he is always making the right play and putting the defense on their heels.
What does it mean if Boldy is this good in this many different areas at 20-21 years old and is a difference maker and top 3-4 caliber forward on a playoff contender who plays both ways and scores 70-75ppg? What happens if instead of 15 mpg TOI he gets 17-18mpg TOI and he starts to fill out 10-20 pounds to his frame? Boldy might actually be a Rantanen or Stone level player and he might not be far off from that level of play already.
Boldy has made things look easy from Day 1 playing top 6 minutes on a playoff team averaging over 70 points per 82 games and playing an extremely strong two-way game. Boldy has also done what most rookies struggle to do and actually been a line-driver in a lot of ways (though in Boldy's own unique way) where most rookies may score some points but struggle to drive positive play consistently especially at a playoff-contender level.
Fiala & Gaudreau are averaging over 110 & 60 points per 82 games in games playing with Boldy after averaging about 50 & 30 points per 82 games without him. Now part of that is the difference between Boldy and replacement players like Rask in that spot, but the majority of the difference is really Boldy. The majority of the difference is that Boldy is a unique player in which he pretty much makes consistent positive players in all 3 zones of the ice whether he has the puck or without the puck no matter what the current play happens to be. Boldy is a really strong player in generating transition chances both entering the puck with possession off the rush & generating chances but also using area passes to spring high danger chances for line mates.
He's great at finding soft spots without the puck and always makes quick decisions whether firing shots on net against a goalie that isn't set, changing the angle and throwing off the goalie, or firing a pass as soon as it touches his stick to an open player as he processes the game one-two plays ahead and causes defenses to scramble. He's great at protecting the puck on the wall off the cycle and funneling pucks to high-danger areas. He's great around the net & can score goals from all kinds of weird angles... he's great at finding space in the slot and getting pucks off. He's got a great release. He's a huge difference maker on the PP and one of our best players at moving the puck quickly to break down the PK box. He almost never turns the puck over in a way that leads to odd-man rushes or negative plays against.
In my opinion, a big part of the reason that Fiala/Gaudreau have seen the success they have is because Boldy is a player who makes quick-decisions consistently all over the ice that lead to positive plays that increase the teams chances to generate scoring chances. He's like a PG who already knows how the defense will collapse once the initial pass is made and whether he's finishing the play, making the pass to the cutter or the alley oop player at the rim, making a hockey pass that leads to the pass that scores, pushing the puck in transition or slowing things down he is always making the right play and putting the defense on their heels.
What does it mean if Boldy is this good in this many different areas at 20-21 years old and is a difference maker and top 3-4 caliber forward on a playoff contender who plays both ways and scores 70-75ppg? What happens if instead of 15 mpg TOI he gets 17-18mpg TOI and he starts to fill out 10-20 pounds to his frame? Boldy might actually be a Rantanen or Stone level player and he might not be far off from that level of play already.
