Vilardi looking to change the narrative

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This article was published 25/09/2024 (375 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gabe Vilardi is well into a wide-ranging discussion with reporters when he delivers the money quote.

When it comes to the highly productive right winger with the Winnipeg Jets, there’s a narrative he just can’t seem to shake — though Vilardi is hopeful this is going to be the season that finally changes.

“I only played pretty much half the season and that’s been my thing for the majority (of his career),” said Vilardi. “I really haven’t been able to see what I can do in a full season. That’s something that motivates me. It’s exciting and it’s also a challenge and I need to get over that.”

The talent has never been in question for Vilardi, chosen 11th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Los Angeles Kings.

It’s the main reason Vilardi came to Winnipeg in the blockbuster Pierre-Luc Dubois deal, along with fellow forwards Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari and a high second-round draft pick in 2024 that turned into defence prospect Alfons Freij.

When healthy last season, Vilardi was a force.

Playing top-line minutes for the first time in his fifth NHL season, Vilardi finished fifth on the Jets in goals (22) and seventh in points (36) despite being limited to 47 games.

It doesn’t take a math major to project Vilardi could easily find himself in the 35-to-40 goal range and 65-to-75 point range should he stay healthy and play close to a full season.

“He’s a super cerebral player. Great in front of the net, great hands. He’s got great skill and a great feel for the game,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo. “He’s such a big part of the power play, too. When he was in, it changed the whole look of it. With that presence of being able to take pucks to the net, being able to tip pucks and be around there.

“He’s a great player and I think he’s got a lot more to give. He’s still scratching the surface on the type of player he can be.”

Vilardi’s injury issues date back to junior hockey and his career high for games played at the professional level is 63, a number he hit during the 2022-23 season when he was still with the Kings.

After the June 2023 trade, Vilardi expressed his enthusiasm about the fresh opportunity to be a key contributor. After opening the 2023-24 campaign on the top line, he suffered a freak knee injury after former teammate Blake Lizotte fell on him in the third game of the season.

“He’s a super cerebral player. Great in front of the net, great hands. He’s got great skill and a great feel for the game.”–Dylan DeMelo

Vilardi didn’t play again until Nov. 30. Eventually, he found his offensive groove but the early injury compounded the challenge of joining a new team.

“Obviously, a tough spot. You get traded and get injured in the third game of the year. It’s not ideal coming to a new team,” said Vilardi, who also had an issue with an enlarged spleen that kept him out for another month late in the season. “It’s so long ago, that it is what it is and it’s a whole new season.”

Vilardi has been skating alongside Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor for a good chunk of training camp on what is expected to be the Jets’ top line.

Playing together last season for a high number of the 51 games he played in (including the five in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs) gave Vilardi a good sense of how he can complement Scheifele and Connor — both of whom play at a high pace, given their strong skating ability.

“The best players, they bring it every night,” said Vilardi. “To your point about dragging 55 (Scheifele) and 81 (Connor) around, sometimes I feel like I’m the one getting dragged around. Last year was my first year playing such top minutes like that. For this year, my goal would be to stay healthy and then try to be more consistent in my game.”

When asked about what he worked on during his summer training, Vilardi discussed the importance of puck protection.

“Playing with (Scheifele) and watching him, he’s so good in the corners at using his body. That’s something I tried to work on a little bit,” Vilardi said. “Then, I tried to work on my shot a bit more. I had a tough time scoring from more than 10 feet away from the net, so I’ve got to score a few more (from distance).”

His ability to go to the net and win battles along the wall is sure to serve Vilardi well this season.

“Playing with (Scheifele) and watching him, he’s so good in the corners at using his body. That’s something I tried to work on a little bit.”–Gabe Vilardi

“Gabe’s good at that,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “He uses his leverage. He uses his size. He uses his butt. He uses his long reach. He uses all those things so that defenders don’t get pucks from him. The biggest thing for him is that, hopefully, we’re getting 82 of them (games) this year.”

Accomplishing that goal would be beneficial to both the Jets and Vilardi, who is entering the final year of his contract and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

“If you’ve been injured over your career, or if you’ve had lots of times where it’s knocked you out of lineups, you get very frustrated by it,” said Arniel. “You get down on yourself at times. It’s almost like it’s your fault, but he’s in a good spot now and he’s excited and, like you said, he’s someone we’re talking about 82 games. That’s his goal. He’s not talking about 40 goals, he’s talking about playing 82 games.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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