Iafallo excited to be a Jet

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This article was published 04/07/2023 (819 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alex Iafallo was camping in the Eastern Sierra near Yosemite National Park in northern California last week when he received a piece of news that briefly took his breath away: He’d been traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the Winnipeg Jets.

“It was definitely wild,” he said Tuesday afternoon.

Never afraid of a challenge, the avid outdoorsman is looking at this latest adventure in his professional career as something to embrace. Especially after conversations with members of the organization.

“It was definitely good to talk to Chevy (general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff) and to hear their insight about everything,” said Iafallo.

“They wanted me and to get traded to a great team, organization, like this, and the fans involved… playing against Winnipeg, going in there, the fans are amazing. It’s just a great atmosphere, so to be a part of that. Your goal is to win the Cup and win as many games as you can, so that’s what I’m going to try to do. And adjust as I can, right away.”

Iafallo, 29, was part of the return for Pierre-Luc Dubois, along with fellow forwards Gabe Vilardi and Rasmus Kupari.

“I’ve never been traded before but at the end of the day I’m excited to be a Jet,” he said. “Obviously it’s a big change in your life, but to come to a great organization and to know people on the team and have players that I’ve played with going with me… it’ll be a good experience and I’m pumped to get there.”

Iafallo is somewhat familiar with this region. He played two years in the USHL with the Fargo Force, then four years of college hockey at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

“I like to do a lot of outdoor activities, really. In Duluth we’d always hunt or fish or bike around when you’d have a couple hours off of hockey. Just being active, really. I like to do a lot of activities,” he said.

There’s also familiarity with some new teammates. Jets defenceman Neal Pionk was also at UMD for the Iafallo’s final two seasons, in 2015-16 and 2016-17, while Jets/Moose forward Dominic Toninato was with him for all four years.

“Neal is such a great guy. I am pumped to be back playing with him and to hear from him right away, it was definitely good to hear from him,” said Iafallo, who also played some spring hockey as a youth against Jets centre Mark Scheifele.

The undrafted left-winger from Eden, N.Y., has played six NHL seasons, all with Los Angeles. Although he’s not a massive offensive producer — his career-high is 17 goals and 43 points, set in 2019-20 — he’s consistent. He had 36 points (14 goals and 22 assists) in 59 regular-season games last year, missing the other 23 with injury.

“I just try to be a good example to everyone I guess, on and off the ice, and just try to work as hard as I can in every area of the game. That’s what I’m going to try to bring as a Jet,” he said.

Iafallo, who stands 6-0 and weighs 200 pounds, is signed for two more seasons at US$4 million per year. Cheveldayoff described him last weekend as an important part of the return for Dubois and someone who can help show young players the way while contributing plenty on the ice.

“I just take care of the mental part of the game, always be aware of what’s going on, how the game is changing,” Iafallo said of his approach.

“You have to take care of your body, you’re doing training and all that stuff, but maybe I’ve realized it’s more mental, off the ice, watching video or whatever it may be. Just paying attention to that kind of stuff.”

Iafallo has also brought his best when it really counts, with two straight strong playoff performances. He has four goals and four assists in 13 spring games over the last two years.

“Just trying to be more aggressive, I guess. Focused more on defensively pushing things forward, so then it’s easier to work offensively and stuff like that,” he said.

“Going into playoffs, it’s a fun time of year and you want to win, you want to keep winning. So that was my focus the whole time. It was playing a good, consistent, 200-foot game each time and good things will happen.”

With the Jets attempting to retool on the fly, Iafallo should get plenty of opportunity to shine. He believes his best is yet to come.

“Defensively, offensively, I’m going to try to bring the same aspect and play… Whatever they ask of me, I’ll do as best as I can and, I guess, keep learning,” he said.

“That’s the biggest thing about this game. You’ve just gotta keep learning and keep growing as a player. You want to win and be part of great teams. I feel like I have more to give and I’m excited to be a Jet.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg