Coming into the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, hockey journalists, prognosticators and bloggers were all asking the question: would Minnesota Wild general manager Paul Fenton drop his “best player available” strategy and go off the board to address a pressing need in net, making the Wild the first team in nine years to take a goalie in the top 12?
As it turned out, Fenton kept to his promise of taking the best player on his board and grabbed forward Matthew Boldy with the 12th overall pick. The top goaltender prospect in the draft, Spencer Knight, went one selection later to the Florida Panthers.