Make a Bold(y) statement in the hockey hobby

John McTaggart | Sep 21, 2024

By John McTaggart

I’m going to tell you all right off the bat — I’m about to geek-out on hockey cards in this column.

So, if that doesn’t spin your wheels or blow your skirt up, then, by all means move on to a different feature of this newsletter.

But honestly, I’m hopeful that my years of chipping away at you all, proclaiming the beauty of the game and the hobby, would at least have won a few of you over.

Not to mention the fact that the game has a legitimate young superstar in Connor Bedard,                               whose prices rival many young superstars in other sports, and he appears to have that elusive “it” factor as well.

All of that is god for the game, and the hobby.

Which leads me to the purpose of this little internet notepad — Matt Boldy.

Who is Matt Boldy, you ask?

Well, he’s not the aforementioned Bedard, but he is a rising star in the NHL, and, I should add, a guy who I think can have a breakout season in 24-25 for the Minnesota Wild.

Listen, in his sophomore campaign, he was not -so-great, I’ll admit that, no problem.

That said, the team was a bit of a mess, particularly out of the gate, where they went 5-10-4 through the opening 19 games of 2023-24. This resulted in the firing of then-head coach Dean Everson, and the hiring of current coach, John Hynes.

Hynes steadied the ship enough for the Wild to finish above the .500 mark on the season(39-34-9).

Which leads me back to Boldy.

The 12th overall pick in the 2019 draft not only impressed in his rookie campaign, but he also won the hearts of the hobby.

Heading into last season, Boldy was atop the list on talented young prospects looking to shake up the hobby world.

He did just that, with his 22-23 Upper Deck Young Guns card, No. 201 checking in at around $100-110 according to 130point.com.

Boldy wrapped up the 23-24 campaign with 69 point and 29 goals.

Although it wasn’t a step back, so to speak from the 22-23 season, where he finished with 63 points, there wasn’t that leap forward that most expected.

That could easily arrive this season, as the team around him is better, there’s some stability behind the bench, and, Boldy has another season under his belt. 

You can pick up raw copies of his base Young Guns cards for less than $10, I would suggest taking a flyer on this kid because he can flat-out score, and that is never a bad thing in the hobby.