Boston uncommon: Four Wild prospects call BC home

Amateur scouting can be one of the most thankless jobs for any hockey scout.
Even under a best case scenario, it usually involves a car ride, often to some far-flung rink, where said scout will lay their eyes on a team's draft pick for maybe a quarter of a 60-minute hockey game.
With COVID-19 numbers climbing across the country and rinks all over still without fans, scouting -- like the rest of society -- has gone virtual. But all the Wild has to do is flip on Boston College and whomever is scouting the game will have it easy.

The No. 2-ranked Eagles have four -- count 'em, four -- players drafted by the Wild over the past couple of seasons on their roster, ranging from first-round pick Matt Boldy to sixth-rounders Marshall Warren and Nikita Nesterenko.
In between is a third-round pick, Jack McBain.
It's something that even legendary BC head coach Jerry York, who has witnessed just about everything in his nearly half century behind a college hockey bench, says he's never seen.
"It's never happened in my coaching career," said York, who is in his 27th season at Boston College and 49th as a Division I head coach. "We've had tons of pro draft picks, and sometimes we'll have two going to one [NHL] club. But never four to a club.
"It has to be the Guerin interest."
The fact that the Wild has four prospects playing at BC certainly does pique the interest of Minnesota's General Manager Bill Guerin, himself a product of a Boston College hockey program that is one of the most storied in the country.
Guerin didn't play for York when he was there, but he's a big fan of the coach, and visited the BC team last year when the Wild was in Boston.
"It's awesome. The player development guys are psyched about it, I know that. It makes it real easy, and the fact that it's Boston College makes it even better," Guerin said. "I know they're in good hands with Jerry York and his staff. I'm excited that those guys are all there."
Perhaps the most ironic part of it all is that Guerin did not draft any of the four. All were selected by former GM Paul Fenton, a proud alum of ... BC's chief rival, Boston University.
Asked whether Guerin would be instituting any rules regarding a BU Terriers ban, all he could do was smile.
"We'll take BU guys too," Guerin said as though he were ready to audibly sigh. "Hey, if they help us win, I don't care where they're from."
BC's Eagles certainly have the look of a crew that could one day help Guerin's cause in Minnesota.
Boldy, the 12th overall selection in the 2019 Draft, was one of the top players in all of college hockey during the second half of last season. After scoring a goal in his collegiate debut against Wisconsin, Boldy went the next 16 games without lighting the lamp. In 15 games before New Year's, Boldy had just one goal and two assists.

"It always takes time for young guys to adjust to a new league and all the demands on a young man," York said.
But Boldy's fortunes turned when the calendar did.
In his final 19 games, Boldy scored eight goals and tallied 15 assists. During that stretch, he had four three-point games and two other two-point nights.
Boldy looked primed to help the Eagles on a long postseason run when the college hockey season was abruptly canceled in mid-March because of COVID.
"It was shocking. Crazy. It was sad. It was weird," Boldy said. "I think the team we had, we had a really good chance of doing something special in the NCAA Tournament and I thought we had a really good chance of potentially winning, so that's a heartbreaker."
After an early end to last season and a late start to this one, Boldy has apparently picked up right where he left off.

Through four games this season, Boldy has three goals and five assists. He's chipped in at least one assist in every game and had his first two-goal night of the season on Saturday in a 9-0 win at Providence College.
"He's come back with a little more jump to his game," York said. "It's great to see that carryover from last year."
"I feel a lot more confident, a lot more comfortable just coming into the year," Boldy said. "I know what college hockey is like, I'm used to the college schedule with classes and balancing everything. I think the game has slowed down for me a little bit this year."
A summer of work with renowned skills coach Adam Nicholas also helped. Nicholas tutors a number of Boston-based NHLers, among others, and Boldy said he was able to get on the ice against plenty of elite players, which helped keep him sharp.
"I was able to come back and play against teams that felt like real games, and that makes it a lot easier," Boldy said. "I think the games [at BC] have slowed down a little bit for me this year, but it came with a lot of work for me this summer."
Perhaps nobody knows Boldy's game better than Warren, who like Boldy, is a sophomore, is a 2019 draft pick and is a product of the U.S. National Team Development Program.
Boldy and Warren practiced and played against each other long before that too going all the way back to their days playing minor hockey. The two were teammates on the Boston Junior Bruins when they were just eight years old.
Warren isn't surprised to see Boldy continue to produce the way he has so far.
"I've practiced with him every single day for the last six years," Warren said. "He's always had the skill. Now he's just popping at the right time. He's an extraordinary player."
Boldy's first-half struggles last year made him a noted absence on the roster for Team USA at the World Junior Championship, a surprise for a player selected near the top of the most recent NHL Draft.
But his second half last year combined with a hot early start earned him one of 29 spots on Team USA's preliminary roster for that tournament this year, which begins later this month in Edmonton.
"That was awesome, it's been a big goal of mine to make that team since I was a real young kid," Boldy said. "I have the chance to make the final roster and go over to Edmonton and play in that tournament. It's a big honor and I'm super excited to go to camp, see what happens and hopefully make that team."

Warren, the lone defenseman of the four, has one assist in four games but said his overall game is much more polished now that he's a sophomore.
Like in the NHL, it always takes defensemen a little longer to adjust, and Warren's all-around game is better off so far this season.
"He looks to me, much more confident in his ability," York said. "He's always had a great skating stride, he's very mobile. But now, he's making better decisions with the puck. That's the biggest difference I've seen. His positional play is getting better also."
The veteran of the group is McBain, a big, athletic junior forward who stands 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds. After a six-goal, 13-point freshman season, McBain scored six goals and had 21 points last season.
A national champion beach volleyball player growing up, there were whispers out east that McBain could be primed for a breakout season this year, and through four games, those predictions certainly look wise. Playing on a line with Nesterenko, McBain has two goals and five points to start the year.
In McBain, York says he sees a lot of former BC star and longtime NHLer Brian Boyle.

"He's improved so much," York said. "When he first came here, he was still unsure of his skating stride. He got knocked down too often [for a guy his size] in our league. But as he's gained strength in his legs from training and power as he's gotten older, he's a completely different player than he was two years ago. He's got great leg strength now.
"He's a great player now, it just took him a little time to adjust to our league."
That adjustment was mental for McBain too.
"I think I learned a lot here my first two years," McBain said. "I like where my game is at right now. I've been improving here over the years and I'm hoping for some good things this year."
McBain has also become a sort of big brother to his linemate Nesterenko, helping the 19-year-old adjust to life in Hockey East.
The two have had immediate chemistry, with Nesterenko scoring three goals and five points in his first four collegiate games.
"McBain has been a huge mentor for me," Nesterenko said. "He's been through two seasons here and through two [Wild] development camps already too. It's always comforting when you know someone has been there before.
"He's always pulling me aside in practice or during workouts and tells me things I need to work on. He's been like a big brother and that helps me for sure."

When Nesterenko was selected in the sixth round in 2019, six picks after it selected Warren, he was just 17 years old, having just completed his junior season of high school hockey in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He was listed at 6-feet tall and just 157 pounds.
At the time, Nesterenko was preparing to play junior hockey with Chilliwack of the British Columbia Hockey League before heading to Brown University. He changed his commitment to BC in October of 2019 and hasn't looked back since.
After scoring 20 goals and 56 points in his lone season in the BCHL, Nesterenko has exploded onto the scene as a freshman, making his mark with what York calls his elite skating ability. All while growing two inches taller and adding 19 pounds of muscle to a frame that has plenty of room for more.
"Terrific skills, but more importantly, his skating is at a real high level right now," York said. "His edge control, his burst. He's really outstanding as a skater. His skill level is really good as well, but his skating is what really jumps out to me.
"For some guys, it's easy. For others, it takes them a little while to really dig in and get going. But he's got great burst, good skills. He's got a real good future in front of him."
That future, in a perfect world, would extend a BC partnership that is blossoming into full bloom for all four prospects.
While they're enjoying their time together now, each hopes they're nowhere near finished with each other.
"I'm really close with Bolds, but having Bainer and Nikita, it's really cool to be able to rely on each other," Warren said. "We're all in similar boats getting drafted by the same organization. We're all highly skilled players, we all build off each other and I think we're just going to get better."