Vilardi on the runway and preparing for takeoff

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This article was published 20/11/2023 (726 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The afternoon Florida sun wasn’t the only thing to warm the Winnipeg Jets’ spirits Monday, as Gabriel Vilardi skated with his teammates for the first time since spraining his MCL (knee) just three games into the season and might play during the club’s three-game southern road trip.

“There’s a good chance he might,” associate coach Scott Arniel said after morning practice in Winnipeg.

The Jets (10-5-2) held a quick on-ice session before boarding a plane bound for Tampa Bay where they’ll face the Lightning on Wednesday. Winnipeg also battles the Florida Panthers Friday before closing out in Nashville against the Predators Sunday.

Vilardi wore a yellow non-contact jersey, although he appeared to be skating at full speed.

“Biggest thing is that was his first real — I mean, I know he’s been out on the ice doing some sort of shooting and conditioning stuff here — but that was his first one with all the guys and getting in line rushes and being in a situation where he may have to shift his weight, maybe happen to run into somebody,” Arniel said.

“He’ll do a little bit more of that as this week goes on and then we’ll see how he is. We’ll just take it day to day. First, he has to feel comfortable with his knee and his situation, and the second thing is conditioning — that’s a big one. We don’t want to put him out there where he’s not ready to go close to 100 per cent and something happens because he’s not in proper shape.”

Vilardi, who was acquired as a part of the summer deal that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings, began the year on the top line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, compiling one assist in three games. The top trio has since taken off with Alex Iafallo in his place.

Connor was tied for the league lead in goals (14) prior to Monday’s slate of NHL games, while Scheifele and Iafallo have registered 21 and 13 points, respectively.

Once Vilardi gets the green light, the question becomes where he will slot into a lineup that has found its groove as of late.

“I try not to think about it too much,” Arniel said, with a grin. “He’s an elite-six player, he’s a top-end player that had a breakout year last year. I know he has a skillset where he needs to play with top people so whether that’s with (Connor and Scheifele) — whoever it might be — we’ll just kind of let things play out this week and go from there.”

Indeed, the Jets are flying high these days, going 4-1-0 on a five-game homestand that ended with a convincing 5-2 triumph over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.

The Jets notched 22 goals over that span to raise their season total to 42 markers, fifth-most in the league. The club has earned at least a point in 11 of its last 13 games and was just one point back of the Dallas Stars for the Central Division lead — prior to Monday’s NHL action — as it prepares for a pair of tough Eastern Conference opponents and a divisional foe.

“We feel really good about (the season so far),” said forward Nino Niederreiter. “I think the whole league, teams probably didn’t really count us to be the way we are and I think management did a great job of putting some good pieces together. I feel like the way we’ve been competing, the way we’ve been working hard — obviously, the (1-3) start wasn’t quite the way we wanted to — but now I feel like we’ve really found our groove and we got to make sure we keep it going.”

The Jets have posted multi-goal margins in five of their last six victories. While scoring goals is always key, Niederreiter noted the importance of the team finding ways to win close, low-scoring affairs as well.

“At the same time, we played a team like Dallas, which we lost (3-2) and we see the way teams like Dallas or Vegas, the way they’ve been winning games— they’re comfortable winning a 2-1 game or a 3-2 game. I think that’s something which we gotta know that those count, as well. We had a couple of wins in the homestand, like against Arizona, which was tight for a long time and then kind of find a way to win that game,” he said.

“I think wins like that is something which we gotta make sure we learn over the course of the next few games here.”

Forwards Vladislav Namestnikov and Morgan Barron were pardoned from Monday’s skate for what Arniel called a maintenance day.

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The Jets will sport their 1948 Royal Canadian Air Force jerseys for the first time on Dec. 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes in recognition of 100 years of service for the Canadian Armed Forces.

Military members in attendance are encouraged to wear their uniforms and will be invited to join players for an on-ice photo after the game. The first 5,000 fans through the gate will also receive a RCAF mini stick.

The light blue sweaters will be worn three times this season, with games against the Maple Leafs on January 27 and the Los Angeles Kings on April 1 (the official anniversary) the other announced dates.

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Joshua Frey-Sam
Reporter

Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.

Every piece of reporting Josh produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.