When the All-American Prospects game was played at the Xcel back in September, I went there with the intention of watching Hughes and his cohort, Cole Caufield up close and personal. I had front row seats in one of the corners. I got to see a lot of really good players that played in a fun back-and-forth game. Hughes, Caufield, Zegras, York, the list goes on. Lots of really great players.
But the one player that really, really stuck out was Matthew Boldy. He scored a few goals, was involved in multiple scoring chances, and was just tenacious in almost everything he did. I had a big write-up on another forum but I can't find that post or else I'd copy+paste it here. Absolutely love the pick.
He can play on the left or right side, he can play on the powerplay, penalty kill, even strength, the list goes on. To me - this is my impressions based on one game in person + about 10 I watched from the comfort of my couch, plus pretty much any article I could read on him - he could be a winger version of Patrice Bergeron. Powerful, smart, always in the right spot. He'll put up points, he'll defend leads, and he will be relied on in all situations. Regardless of the fact we have Parise, Donato, Zucker, Kaprizov, Greenway for him to contend with, he'll figure out a way to play in the top six. One, maybe two years in college, maybe one season in the AHL, and he'll be contributing from the 3rd line in 2-3 years with plenty of pressure to go up the lineup.
Absolutely love this pick. He was my #1 semi-realistic target for Fenton to go after but I really thought he would be long-gone. Love it.