Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness indicates Gabriel Vilardi won’t play tonight vs Kraken

The Jets have been without Gabriel Vilardi for two games and around one period as he missed the final frame in Dallas to kick off their three-game road trip. He didn’t practice the next day in Texas and on Saturday Rick Bowness revealed after the game against the Hurricanes in Carolina that he had been sent back to Winnipeg for evaluation. Turns out he had been dealing with something that had been “been bugging him for a couple of days”.

Today the Jets take on the Kraken and following morning skate, which was absent Vilardi, head coach Rick Bowness indicated he will not play against the Kraken this evening but will travel with the team on the road. He wouldn’t commit to Vilarid being available for the Friday re-match with Seattle simply saying “we’ll deal with it on Friday” when pressed for more information.

He later confirmed that it is an upper-body injury and that Vilardi hasn’t skated on his own.