"I think that was huge for me. It's an unbelievable tournament and one that I dreamed of playing in for so long, and finally getting a chance to do it, and succeed the way we did, and come home with gold made it even more special," Boldy said. "Going into the tournament, I think I was there to try and prove some people wrong. Just kind of go out there, play my game and show everyone who I am as an all-around player and not just one dimensional or two dimensional.
"That was huge for both my confidence and showing myself and some other people that I can play defensively good minutes, I can kill penalties, I can play in different roles that sometimes I'm not always put into."
Boldy scored three of his goals this season shorthanded, which tied for the lead nationally, bolstering his all-around game that the Wild loves, and why the team believes he has a bright future ahead of him.
"I think he can be very good. He's got hockey sense, he's got size, he's got playmaking ability, he's got a lot of great tools, it's just a matter of putting them all together at the next level," Guerin said. "Just like any other player, Matt's gonna have to get a little bigger, a little stronger, a little faster and put all those things together. But that's normal, that's for any young player, it doesn't matter if you're first overall or 12th overall or 70th overall. That's the standard for young players.
"He's a very important piece of our puzzle and we're going to do the things we feel are right for his development so when he gets to Minnesota, that he's prepared to stay there and help us win."