Winnipeg Jets’ Gabriel Vilardi could be a difference maker

A sprained MCL and enlarged spleen set Gabriel Vilardi back last season, as he appeared in only 47 games throughout the season. Despite the injuries, Vilardi proved that he can play at a high level, and he’s primed to have another stellar season, of course, with the caveat that he has to remain healthy.

Gabriel Vilardi will resume first-line, top power play roles

Vilardi is set to remain on the Jets’ top forward line alongside Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, a trio that struggled defensively at five-on-five last year. While the defensive play from that line almost certainly has to improve, they should have no issues filling the stat sheet. 

Last season, Vilardi was able to net 22 goals in 47 games and add 14 assists in the process. Over an 82-game sample size, that would have equaled 38 goals, 24 assists, and 62 points. 

That’s where health comes into play. Vilardi’s career-high in games played in 63, in 2022-23 with the Los Angeles Kings. To reach his full potential as a player, he’ll need to stay healthy for a full season, and Jets head coach Scott Arniel expressed his desire to see that full-season sample size after Wednesday night’s preseason game. 

“I hope so,” Arniel said on Wednesday. “He obviously had the injury early on last year, set him back and then he had to kind of start over on a new team and kind of show the coaching staff, his teammates what he was about, what he was all about, what he could do. We saw bits and pieces. The biggest thing for him is health… staying healthy.”

The Jets power play runs through Vilardi

Vilardi finished the Jets’ 5-2 preseason win over the Flames with three assists, including a one-touch pass to Nikolaj Ehlers on the power play to open the scoring. 

Albeit in a small sample size, he has proven to be dynamic in his ‘office’ on the power play. He can fool the goaltender with a deke, slide a crisp pass to Ehlers in the bumper position, or go back door to Kyle Connor for a one-timer opportunity.

Vilardi is the most dynamic power-play threat the Winnipeg Jets have had since Patrik Laine was traded. The array of decisions he can make within a split second of one another gives him a leg up over any penalty killers. 

“It’s his passing ability, his vision,” Arniel said about Vilardi. “His ability to hold on to pucks is elite, and when he does that, he opens up the ice for other people. Sometimes he’ll have two defenders on him and that creates some of those holes and then on the other side, just like (Nino Niederreiter), he knows that he’s got to get somewhere close to that net into that high slot area and he’ll get a lot of his looks in there.”

Between the Jets’ power play looking solid in preseason action, Vilardi being a key contributor to that, and the chemistry he has shown offensively with Scheifele and Connor, the only thing standing in his way in 2024-25 is health. 

It’s worth noting that he is a pending restricted free agent (RFA) and will be looking for a significant pay raise next offseason if he can produce at the rate he’s capable of. 

Lambert, Salomonsson, and Chibrikov post mixed results 

The three Jets prospects with the best chance to make the opening night roster got into another game on Wednesday night, as Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, and Elias Salomonsson all played in their fourth preseason game. 

For Lambert, he struggled mightily in the first two periods, turning the puck over at an alarming rate and not being able to win it back. In the third period, he looked more like the dynamic skater we’ve become accustomed to seeing and picked up a primary assist on Simon Lundmark’s goal, which made it 4-2. 

Salomonsson played on the right side after I speculated he could be a candidate for the left side, given the injuries in that spot. He played a steady game, didn’t make any big mistakes, but he might not have done enough to convince the coaching staff of an opening night roster spot. 

Chibrikov was his usual self, throwing solid hits and winning pucks back on the forecheck. He may be the most ‘NHL-ready’ prospect out of the three I have mentioned here, as his style is more than suitable for the Jets’ bottom-six. If he continues to play to his style and potentially add more of an offensive element, we could see him get a run of games with the Jets this season if an injury arises. 

Note: David Gustafsson exited Wednesday’s game with a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated on Thursday morning, per Scott Arniel.