NHL Buzz: Boldy staying with Wild for rest of season

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Minnesota Wild

Matt Boldy will remain with the Wild for the rest of the season, general manager Bill Guerin said Monday.
The 20-year-old forward has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his first nine NHL games, tying Ryan Donato for the Wild record for most after nine games. Minnesota is 8-0-1 since Boldy scored in his NHL debut that helped end a 0-4-1 slide with a 3-2 win at the Boston Bruins on Jan. 6.
"Matt's here to stay," Guerin said. "He's been told that, and he's earned his way on the team, and he's played real well for us. He's done the right things. He's a really good kid. He's a good teammate."
Boldy has settled in at left wing on the third line with center Frederick Gaudreau and right wing Kevin Fiala. The No. 12 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft had a first-period assist scored in the second period of a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders on Sunday. Fiala had the primary assist to extend his point streak to 11 games, one shy of Mikael Granlund's team record.
"I think the guys really like having him around," Guerin said. "He's given us some of that youthful energy, and his play with Kevin and 'Freddy' has been really good. I think the line has got some good chemistry going, and they're producing for us, so it's good to add him." -- Jessi Pierce

Toronto Maple Leafs

Jake Muzzin did not play in a 6-4 win against the New Jersey Devils on Monday, and the defenseman will miss his sixth straight game because of a concussion when Toronto visits New Jersey for the second game of a home-and-home set Tuesday.
The Maple Leafs don't play again after that until Feb. 7 against the Carolina Hurricanes because of 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday.
"He's going to take a bit of a step back here with the break upcoming," coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He was not going to be available to play in either of these games, so it just made sense to do that. The [medical staff] is going to continue to monitor him and work with him with hopes to ramp things up as we get back from the break and perhaps even throughout the break in his case."
Muzzin sustained the concussion Jan. 15 against the St. Louis Blues in a collision with forward Klim Kostin.
"The recovery takes time in a lot of cases," Keefe said. "The fact he was able to do so much work leading up to this last little bit, with the break upcoming it's been a little easier to pull back, so my concern level is right where it should be. Any time a player has a head injury, the concern is significant, but I believe he is on the right track and the medical team is on top of it. We're going to do everything we can do to give him the best care possible and when he is ready to play, we will welcome him back."-- Dave McCarthy

Pittsburgh Penguins

Danton Heinen is day to day with an upper-body injury sustained in warmups before a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings at home Sunday.
The forward did not participate in an optional practice Monday and will likely miss a second straight game when the Penguins host the Washington Capitals on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ATTSN-PT, NBCSWA, ESPN+, NHL LIVE) .
"Everybody else is just bumps and bruises, basically," coach Mike Sullivan said.
Heinen, who was replaced by Radim Zohorna at third-line right wing, joins three other forwards on the injury report.
Jason Zucker, a second-line left wing, is week to week after having core muscle injury repair Jan. 25; Teddy Blueger, usually a fourth-line center, is expected to be out 6-8 weeks after having surgery to repair a fractured jaw Jan. 24. Forward Drew O'Connor (upper body) and goalie Louis Domingue (lower body) are also injured.
In his first season with the Penguins, Heinen has scored 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 40 games. He has two assists in his past nine games.
Pittsburgh is 2-1-2 through five games of a six-game homestand and 0-1-2 in its past three.
"Maybe lately we've been chasing the game a little bit more," defenseman Kris Letang said. "You're pushing through adversity. You're pushing through fatigue. … We've had to probably put more energy on the ice lately." -- Wes Crosby

New Jersey Devils

Assistant Alain Nasreddine coached the Devils in a 6-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, the first of two straight games coach Lindy Ruff will miss after his father, Lesson Ruff, died Jan. 28 at the age of 88.
"He's doing well," Nasreddine said before the game Monday. "He gets to go home, and we got to see him when he learned the hard news. We were there for him. He was doing OK. I think he was very appreciative of the fact he got to go home a couple weeks ago, got to see him, so we will try to hold the fort in the meantime."
Nasreddine will coach the Devils in place of Ruff when they host the Maple Leafs for the second game of their home-and-home set Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN4, ESPN+, NHL LIVE). New Jersey doesn't play again until Feb. 7 at the Ottawa Senators because of 2022 NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday.
Nasreddine coached the Devils from Dec. 31-Jan. 4, going 2-1-0. He replaced John Hynes as coach Dec. 3, 2019, and was retained as an assistant after Ruff was hired July 9, 2020.

Philadelphia Flyers

Derick Brassard could return when the Flyers play their first game after the break for 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, against the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 9.
The forward will miss his 11th straight game with a hip injury when the Flyers host the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, TSN3, ESPN+, NHL LIVE). He's played two games since he was initially injured against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 23.
Coach Mike Yeo said Brassard looked and felt good after getting through what he called "a pretty intense practice," but with one game remaining before the break, it made more sense to hold him out one more game.
"He's going to have an opportunity to skate a little bit more over the break, come back, have another good practice and hopefully he'll be ready to go," Yeo said.
Morgan Frost was held out of practice as a precaution because he arrived at the rink feeling sick. The forward is expected to play Tuesday. -- Adam Kimelman