Matt Boldy has immediately become a difference-maker for the Wild, and here's how he's done so

Matt Boldy's rookie season got off to a relatively late start, having to spend the first couple of months of this season in the AHL while waiting for his opportunity to play for the big club. He finally got called up to the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 6, making his debut in their 32nd game of the year. 

Since then, he's made quick work of closing the gap that had been built in the early going between himself and the other names at the top of this Calder Trophy class.

It's ultimately not going to matter for the purposes of winning the award outright, just because of how impressive Moritz Seider has been at doing pretty much everything for the Detroit Red Wings on a nightly basis all year. 

But Boldy does have a few things working for him in the interest of continuing to move further up voter's ballots, and potentially earning legitimate consideration as a finalist by season's end. Not only does he still have plenty of runway to beef up his resume over the final 30 games, but he's got the advantage of figuring to play meaningful games for a playoff team jockeying for position down the stretch.