Vilardi firing on all cylinders on top line

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This article was published 26/01/2025 (241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Gabe Vilardi isn’t a big fan of talking about himself.

Even after doing something he’d done just one other time in his NHL career, the Winnipeg Jets forward preferred to send praise to others after a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Sunday at Canada Life Centre.

You can understand why Vilardi spoke so passionately about finally providing some run support for backup goalie Eric Comrie and you can also understand why he focuses on the other weapons on the Jets’ top-ranked power play.

But there’s no denying the impact Vilardi made in this contest as he scored twice and produced a four-point outing.

The only other time he achieved that feat was on Dec. 13 of 2023 in what was his second game against the Los Angeles Kings, the team that traded him to the Jets in a blockbuster deal in the summer of 2023.

Vilardi has fit extremely well on the Jets’ top line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor and that trio has been driving the offence for the majority of this season.

Sunday was no different, with Vilardi (two goals, four points), Connor (one goal, three points) and Scheifele (one goal, two points) combining for four goals and nine points — though five of those came on the power play.

“The biggest thing this year is being healthy,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “He complements those guys extremely well with his ability to hold on to pucks, to get pucks, to win his battles to get pucks … I’ve mentioned a few times, he’s got great vision. He’s a good passer, whether that’s coming through the neutral zone, he makes good plays.

“He complements those guys extremely well with his ability to hold on to pucks, to get pucks, to win his battles to get pucks.”– Jets head coach Scott Arniel

“But then once he gets down around that goal, he’s obviously so dangerous. I really liked that shot coming off the wing. He’s a goal scorer. We see a lot of his goals, probably 10 feet from the net, but I’ve seen that one in practice a few times, a couple of times in games, where he fires that puck. For goaltenders, it’s a hard one to read.”

Going into the season, Vilardi said he was hoping to add a few more goals from distance and he’s done a good job on that front.

He’s also flourishing on the power play, where he leads the Jets with 11 markers on the man-advantage and has collected 22 of his points.

Comrie was asked about Vilardi’s ability to handle the puck in tight spaces, specifically on the power play.

“The thing is, I try to stop him every single day in practice and it’s hard to do. He’s an excellent player,” said Comrie. “But, you know what, I’ve had his number in shootout attempts in practice, so it’s good on that one. But he’s unbelievable and he’s got some pretty good hands.”

Those hands have been on display pretty much since Vilardi arrived on the scene as the centrepiece in the deal with fellow forwards Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari and a draft pick for Pierre-Luc Dubois.

The latest entry came during a second-period power play, where Vilardi used his patented drop step and eventually roofed a wrister over the glove of Dan Vladar.

That gives him 22 goals, which is just one shy of his career-high, set during the 2022-23 season with the Kings.

He’s already eclipsed his career-high for points, as he’s up to 47 (and counting).

Vilardi is third on the Jets in goals behind Scheifele (28) and Connor (27).

That the trio has combined for 67 goals through 51 games is incredibly impressive.

“He makes a lot of good reads, he holds onto the puck, he’s got good patience.”– Gabe Vilardi complimenting Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg

During the third period, a puck was in the vicinity of Vilardi but Flames defenceman Rasmus Andersson tied him up to prevent the second hat trick of his career.

“Not very close,” said Vilardi. “He had me, and that was that.”

Asked about the highlight-reel backhand goal scored by Connor — which included him dancing past Flames defenceman Daniil Miromanov before roofing his short — Vilardi was brief and to the point.

“Pretty nasty,” said Vilardi. “That’s what he does.”

No argument here.

Vilardi was also quick to provide props for Jets defenceman Dylan Samberg for the drop pass he made on his first goal.

“He’s an underratedly-smart player out there,” said Vilardi. “He makes a lot of good reads, he holds onto the puck, he’s got good patience. You see him more in the D-zone making those types of plays. But then you saw it there obviously in the O-zone as well.

“I was also yelling as loud as I could from the far blue line, so I was hoping he gave it to me.”

That’s part of the full Gabe Vilardi experience: several assessments that are to the point, combined with a side order of humour mixed in.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld