Since the coaching change, Wild forward Matt Boldy has been incredible.
ST. PAUL - When John Hynes stepped up to the table to speak to the media for the first time as the new head coach, I asked what his plan is to get the most out of struggling players.
"I don't think it's tough. You just go back to having experience of taking a team over mid-season," Hynes said. "When you come into the team with guys struggling I think the more you can talk with them, like they have opinions, they are prideful guys. I think understanding their perspective and then you give them perspective back to try and help them.
Matt Boldy started the season with just one goal in his first 12 games. When the Wild let go of head coach Dean Evason and replaced him with Hynes, Bill Guerin was looking for Hynes to provide a spark to the Wild who were 5-10-4 in their first 19 games under Evason.
Since the change, they have gone from 30th in the NHL to 21st and are now three points out of a playoff spot. Hynes has a 20-13-1 record which puts the Wild seventh in the NHL since November 27th.
Boldy is one of many Wild players to have turned their game around since the coaching change. The 6-foot-2 forward has 19 goals on the season in 46 games and has scored 18 of them in the Hynes era. He has 18 goals and 32 points in 34 games under Hynes and his 18 goals rank tied for sixth in the NHL since November 27th.
"Giving them some time to be able to get the game going," Hynes said on Boldy. "I think the big thing really is every player has an identity and sometimes when players struggle, they lose their identity that makes them who they are."
I think it is safe to say Boldy found his identity again as the goalscorer who earned a seven-year contract. After scoring 31 last year and starting the season this year with one goal in 12 games, no one thought Boldy would have another 30-goal season.
But the 22-year-old forward has really picked it up as of late and is on pace for another 30-goal season. The Milford, Massachusetts, native is projected to finish with 31 goals and 65 points in 75 games this season. Which would tie a career-high in goals and set a career-high in assists and points.
Boldy did not have a good game in Chicago four games ago but neither did the entire top six. Hynes decided to change the lines up and ever since, Boldy and company have been on fire. In his last three games, Boldy has three goals and seven points.
If the Wild want to creep back into the playoff picture, Boldy and the rest of the top six need to keep playing the way they are playing, and the postseason could definitely still be in play.
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