Central Snapshots: Vilardi, Gustafsson, Dermott, Gurianov

The Winnipeg Jets are expecting the return of forwards Gabriel Vilardi and David Gustafsson soon, per team reporter Mike McIntyre with The Free Press. Both players are out with lower-body injuries, with Vilardi missing the team’s last two games and optimistic he can return soon, while Gustafsson has been on injured reserve since December 30^th.

Vilardi missed roughly a month-and-a-half earlier in the season with a sprained MCL. He made his return on November 30^th and has since scored 11 goals and 19 points in 23 games, while averaging over 17 minutes of ice time each game. That’s a scoring pace of 67 points across 82 games, which would mark a new career high for Vilardi, topping the 23 goals and 41 points he scored in 63 games last season. Vilardi is in his first season with Winnipeg, with the 24-year-old forward serving as a focal piece of the trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings this summer.

Gustafsson has appeared in 27 games of his own this season, scoring four points while averaging roughly nine minutes of ice time. He appeared in his 100^th NHL game on December 20^th, recording one assist in the Jets’ 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

• The Arizona Coyotes have shared that defenseman Travis Dermott will miss the team’s Saturday night game with a lower-body injury. Dermott missed 12 games earlier in the season with a hand injury, making his return on December 7^th. He has just two points in the 22 games he’s played since then, adding a -8 and eight penalty minutes.
• Nashville Predators forward Denis Gurianov has lost his waiver exemption status, with Nashville’s Saturday afternoon game marking his 10^th game since being recalled on January 6^th. He’s scored two points in his stint with the Predators, who have become the third NHL club that Gurianov has played for across his seven-year NHL career. The 26-year-old has totaled 289 career games and 113 points, spending six years of his career with the Dallas Stars.