Wild sign Boldy to 7-year, $49M deal

The Minnesota Wild signed winger Matt Boldy to a seven-year pact with an average annual value of $7 million, the team announced Monday.

Boldy, 21, was slated to become a restricted free agent this summer.

The Massachusetts native sits fourth on the Wild with 12 goals and 29 points in 42 games this season while averaging just under 18 minutes of ice time per contest.

The Wild drafted Boldy with the 12th overall pick in 2019.

Boldy made a strong impression in Minnesota after joining the big club's ranks in early January 2022. He scored a goal in his NHL debut against the Boston Bruins and impressed with his first career hat trick about a month later. Boldy ended the 2021-22 season with 15 goals and 24 assists in 47 contests and finished eighth in Calder Trophy voting.

The Wild have a unique salary-cap situation due to the pricy contract buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in July 2021. The duo accounts for nearly $13 million against the cap this season, but that number will jump to $14.7 million during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns.

Minnesota also has decisions to make on Sam Steel, Brandon Duhaime, Mason Shaw, Calen Addison, and Filip Gustavsson, who are all pending restricted free agents. Meanwhile, Matt Dumba, Ryan Reaves, and Frederick Gaudreau can all become unrestricted free agents in a few months.