The Wild felt their first shakeup of a young training camp on Monday when Matt Boldy was unable to practice because of a lower body injury. Coach John Hynes said the injury isn’t serious, but the setback is real.

The team started work on their penalty kill during two practices Monday, and Boldy was expected to be a participant because the Wild want to work one of their top forwards onto the PK this season.

John Capuano, hired as a third assistant coach to John Hynes this summer, ran the first real PK practices on Monday, what the Wild hope are the initial steps toward fixing a unit that finished with a 74.5 percent success rate last season, third worst in the NHL.

“Not to go into too much detail, it’s his size, and it’s his intelligence and his stick,” Capuano said of Boldy, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound wing who has scored a combined 60 goals the past two seasons but has never played on an NHL PK. “He can really fit in a good role with us in that position with that size.”

Hynes said he expected Boldy, 23, to recover from his undisclosed injury by the end of camp and be available for the Wild’s Oct. 10 season opener against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Xcel Energy Center. But the injury is a setback, certainly for the special teams units.

Boldy had 10 goals and 25 power-play points last season, and the coaching staff thinks he can be a difference maker on a penalty kill that played a large role in the Wild missing the postseason last season for just the second time in 12 years.

Hynes was the U.S. head coach for the IIHF World Championships last May in Prague, where Boldy led all skaters with 14 points (six goals) in eight games. He also logged time on the penalty kill.

“We didn’t take too many penalties, but I got a couple of tries at it,” Boldly said Saturday. “It’s something I’d love to be a part of and try to help the team there if I can.”

It will have to wait.

“Yeah, Game 1, it’s probably a stretch,” said Capuano, who has been working with Hynes and fellow assistant coach Patrick Dwyer on the kill.

Boldy has played on the penalty kill units as part of U.S. development teams and at Boston College but has never been part of a PK unit since making his NHL debut for the Wild in January 2022. He sat in the PK meeting on Monday, and will again Tuesday, but now might not get any reps there in camp.

“It’s disappointing that that the injury did happen, because you can show them as much video as they want, but the repetition’s gonna drive the execution, right?” Capuano said. “So, you want to have a lot of reps, and unfortunately for him he won’t.”

Hynes acknowledged the injury will open opportunities for young forwards who will get higher profile roles in practices and preseason games, which resume Wednesday in Dallas, where prospects Liam Ohgren, Riley Heidt and Hunter Haight will get their game action of the fall.

“We have to juggle some things around,” Hynes said. “Obviously, Boldy’s on the power-play stuff, and then some line combos a little bit. So, it does open the door for other guys. And obviously those young kids you’re talking about, they are going to get into some games. That’s why they’re still in camp.”

In the meantime, Boldly can still work out — lift weights, ride a stationary bike — and isn’t expected to miss much, if any, of the regular season because of this.

“Matt was obviously having a very good training camp for the first few days, and had a really good summer,” Hynes said. “The good news is … we’re anticipating him near the end of camp and ready for the start of the season.”

Briefly

Forward Reese Johnson, a four-year veteran who had five points in 42 games with the Blackhawks last season, is out with an upper body injury and considered day-to-day, Hynes said. Michael Milne, a third-round 2022 draft pick who has played the past two seasons in Iowa, is out with an upper body injury. He skated on his own before practice on Monday.