Vilardi opts for two-year bridge deal with Jets

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This article was published 19/07/2023 (789 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gabriel Vilardi got a new hockey home earlier this summer. Now, he has a shiny new contract.

Vilardi, 23, signed a two-year deal on Wednesday with the Winnipeg Jets which will pay him US$3.4375 million per season. An arbitration hearing had been set for July 28 if the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement before then. Obviously, that wouldn’t have been the best way to start a new relationship, and it clearly wasn’t needed.

This deal, known in hockey circles as a “bridge” contract, buys both the player and team more time to assess his true value and work toward a potential long-term extension. It’s the preferred route of many young players these days, especially with the salary cap remaining mostly flat over the past few seasons but expected to take a significant jump starting next year.

Vilardi, who received a major raise from his US$825,000 salary last season, will still be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights when this pact expires. He can’t become an unrestricted free agent until the summer of 2027.

The Ontario product is coming off a career-best campaign in which he had 41 points (23 goals, 18 assists) in 63 regular-season games with the Los Angeles Kings. The 11th-overall draft pick from 2017 had combined for 37 points (18 goals, 19 assists) in 89 previous games over his first three seasons.

Vilardi was traded to Winnipeg last month, along with teammates Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari, in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Vilardi was one of six restricted free agents who needed a new contract this year. He is the third to sign new deals, joining defenceman Dylan Samberg (two years at US$1.4 million per season) and forward Morgan Barron (two years at US$1.35 million per season).

Barron, like Vilardi, had also filed for arbitration but settled well in advance of his scheduled hearing.

Kupari and defencemen Logan Stanley and Declan Chisholm are the remaining players to be dealt with by general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff. They haven’t filed for arbitration (only Stanley was eligible), so there’s no set timeline on a conclusion to their matters.

Winnipeg is now up to approximately US$79.7 million in projected salaries for next season based on a 21-man roster, with Kupari and one of Stanley or Chisholm to likely be added to that mix pending any other moves.

The cap ceiling is set at US$83.5 million for a maximum roster of 23 players.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg