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Gabriel Vilardi

Western Notes: Scheifele, Vilardi, Dunn, Kovalenko

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The Winnipeg Jets could be getting major reinforcements back soon, with the team hopeful that Mark Scheifele will return to the lineup on Friday, per Scott Billeck with the Winnipeg Sun. Billeck also shared that Gabriel Vilardi will remain out on Friday. Vilardi has been out since February 29th with an upper-body injury, missing the team’s last seven games. The extended absence has continued a season of injuries for Vilardi, who has now missed 27 games on the season.

Scheifele missed Winnipeg’s Wednesday night game with illness. He continues to lead the Jets in scoring, with 19 goals and 57 points in 58 games. The Jets simply haven’t been the same team without Scheifele, averaging a measly 1.57 goals-per-game in his absence compared to 3.22 goals-per-game with him in the lineup – leading Winnipeg to a 2-5-0 record without their top forward.

Scheifele’s importance to the Winnipeg roster can’t be understated, placing plenty of weight on his game-time decision ahead of Friday’s matchup. If he can’t go, the Jets will need to rely on one of David Gustafsson or Rasmus Kupari. Gustafsson has been Winnipeg’s de facto fill-in this year, with four points in 31 games, though Kupari’s role as a natural center could earn him a leg-up, even despite his sole assist through 27 games this season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Seattle Kraken will be without defenseman Vince Dunn for the fourth straight game, per Scott Malone with Root Sports. Dunn has been Seattle’s top defender this year, averaging over 23 minutes of ice time for the second-straight season. Dunn has managed 11 goals and 45 points in 57 games on the season, scoring at nearly the exact same pace as he did last season, when he posted a career-high 14 goals and 64 points in 71 games. Without Dunn, Seattle has promoted top young defender Ryker Evans back into an NHL role. Evans has five assists in 19 games this season – the first games of his NHL career – though he’s still searching for his first career goal. Evans has also managed two goals and 15 points in 25 AHL games this year.
  • The Colorado Avalanche could be adding a major boost even after the Trade Deadline, with Russian forward Nikolai Kovalenko reportedly headed to America soon, per Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now, as well as a social media post from Kovalenko’s barber. The Avalanche drafted Kovalenko in the sixth-round of the 2018 NHL Draft, with the winger since emerging as a strong option for the KHL’s Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo. The 24-year-old scored 11 goals and 35 points in 42 KHL games this season, after posting a career-high 21 goals and 54 points in 56 games last season. He will look to carry that same scoring energy onto the high-offense Colorado lineup.

Western Conference Notes: Eichel, Myers, Vilardi, Stankoven

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Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel won’t make his return from injury on Saturday, says head coach Bruce Cassidy. His next chance to return will come when Vegas visits the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. Eichel has been out since January 11th, missing the team’s last 18 games with a knee injury that required surgery. He made his return to the team’s practices on Wednesday, quickly upgrading to a full-contact jersey and nearing a return.

Eichel’s return will offer major relief to a Vegas lineup that’s gone 2-5-1 in their last eight games – with opponents outscoring the Golden Knights 31-to-27. Eichel is the only Golden Knight scoring above a point-per-game pace this season, with 44 points in 42 games. Vegas has set a much more commanding 24-13-5 record in games Eichel has been healthy for.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers has been designated as week-to-week with an undisclosed injury. Mark Friedman will slot into his spot in the lineup. That will bring Friedman up to 21 NHL games this season, spending much of the year as an injury fill-in. He’s managed just one assist alongside 21 penalty minutes and a +5. Myers has so far appeared in all 62 Canucks games this season – a feat that, impressively, eight different Canucks have managed, including three defensemen.
  • Winnipeg Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi has returned to Winnipeg to seek further evaluation for an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s Thursday night loss to the Dallas Stars. Vilardi left the game after just 10 minutes of ice time. He missed Winnipeg’s Saturday morning win over the Carolina Hurricanes and will now miss one more game as the Jets round out their road trip on Sunday. Vilardi has scored 16 goals and 30 points in 38 games this season, though he’s been heavily limited by a string of injuries. The Jets have gone 26-10-2 in games Vilardi has appeared in this season.
  • The Dallas Stars have recalled impressive rookie Logan Stankoven, who was briefly sent down to the minors after the team’s Thursday night game. But with this recall, Dallas shows that move was purely transactional, and that Stankoven will indeed continue in an NHL role after recording three goals and four points in his first four career games. Stankoven has also recorded 57 points in 47 games this season, battling for the league’s top scorer title all season long.

Central Snapshots: Vilardi, Gustafsson, Dermott, Gurianov

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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 30th.

Vilardi missed roughly a month-and-a-half earlier in the season with a sprained MCL. He made his return on November 30th 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 100th NHL game on December 20th, 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 7th. 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 10th game since being recalled on January 6th. 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.

Snapshots: Xhekaj, Vilardi, Lucius

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared on the 32 Thoughts podcast that the Philadelphia Flyers may have been one of the many teams to inquire about Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj. Xhekaj has generated a lot of interest around the league since making his NHL debut last season, largely because of the 148 penalty minutes he’s totaled in only 68 career games. He’s added 34 penalty minutes in 17 AHL games, embodying the old-school enforcer style that’s dwindled in recent years. Xhekaj already has five fights on the season – three in the NHL, including one against Ryan Reaves, and two in the AHL.

Xhekaj has added modest scoring on top of his hefty grit, netting 11 points in the minors this year and three points with Montreal. He’s carved out an impressive role in the NHL, despite going undrafted in his juniors years. Xhekaj signed his first NHL contract out of Montreal’s 2021 training camp, inking a three-year, $2.5MM entry-level contract. He spent the first year of this contract in the OHL, with the deal officially beginning last year. It’s unclear what Montreal might want in return for a defenseman currently in the minor leagues, but there’s no doubting why there’s interest in the 6’4″, 204lbs 22-year-old.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Gabriel Vilardi will be a game-time decision for the Winnipeg Jets’ Monday night matchup against the Boston Bruins, per head coach Rick Bowness. Vilardi has been in and out of the lineup in his first season with the Jets, appearing in just 26 of the team’s 44 games. But he’s made his presence felt when he can, managing 11 goals and 20 points. Vilardi appeared at Winnipeg’s Monday practice but was seen speaking with Bowness after practice. If he can’t go, the team will likely turn toward Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, who has five points through 24 games this season.
  • Winnipeg Jets prospect Chaz Lucius is slated to have season-ending surgery on his ankle. It’s yet another significant injury for the 20-year-old centerman, who has only managed 59 league games over the last three seasons. Lucius was on a hot streak in the minor leagues this year, managing 13 points in his 17 apperances. The Jets will hope for the best from the former 18th-overall selection as he sets his sights on next season.

Jets Activate Gabriel Vilardi

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The Winnipeg Jets activated forward Gabriel Vilardi off injured reserve Thursday, per a team announcement. Head coach Rick Bowness told reporters this morning, including Jets radio commentator Mitchell Clinton, that Vilardi will be a game-time decision tonight against the Oilers.

Vilardi, 24, had missed the past six weeks and 19 games with an MCL sprain sustained in the Jets’ third game of the season. Vilardi, who had notched one assist in his first two games as a Jet, was injured early in an October 17 contest against the Kings, his former team.

If he does play, it’s unclear where he’ll slot in the lineup. Vilardi began the season in a prominent role, skating on the first line alongside Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. It’s evident the Jets have high expectations for the young forward as he continues to overcome significant injuries, a common theme in his development since the Kings selected him 11th overall in 2017.

The most valuable piece sent to Winnipeg in exchange for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois last summer, Vilardi was coming off a breakout season in which he scored 23 goals and 41 points in 68 contests, all career-highs. He posted strong underlying numbers in the process and put up a solid 52.5% Corsi share at even strength. He continued his strong play in the postseason, notching four points in five games in the Kings’ first-round loss to the Oilers.

After missing significant time, don’t expect Vilardi to return to his previous first-line role, at least not immediately. Vilardi took line rushes with Morgan Barron and David Gustafsson on the team’s fourth line in practice today, likely indicating where he’ll skate tonight if he returns to the lineup. He’ll have to unseat Nikolaj Ehlers, who’s currently riding shotgun with Connor and Scheifele. Ehlers has had a somewhat disappointing start to the season, though, recording just 11 points in 21 games.

Vilardi is in the first season of a two-year deal signed with Jets post-trade, earning him $3.44MM per season. He will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2025.

Snapshots: Vilardi, MacEwen, Foudy, Willman

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The Winnipeg Jets have shared that Gabriel Vilardi is not yet ready to return, although he is continuing to progress in his recovery from a knee injury. The forward is expected to be a game-time decision for the Jets’ Thursday night matchup. Vilardi suffered an MCL sprain early on in the season and was expected to miss four to six weeks.

The 24-year-old Vilardi has only managed three appearances with Winnipeg this season, netting one assist and a -1. It’s his first year with the club after joining via trade in June, moving to Winnipeg alongside Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari in the deal that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings. Winnipeg tendered a qualifying offer to Vilardi and was headed towards salary arbitration, before the avoided arbitration with a two-year, $6.9MM contract.

Vilardi had the best season of his young career last year, netting 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games with the Kings. He also added four points in five playoff games. The scoring brings his career totals up to 41 goals and 79 points through 155 games, stretched across the last four seasons. Vilardi was previously drafted 11th overall in the 2017 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season. He is one of four players from the 2017 draft class’ Top 15 to not yet eclipse 200 career NHL games, alongside Cody Glass, Cal Foote, and Lias Andersson.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Ottawa Senators forward Zack MacEwen has been fined $2,018.23 – the maximum allowed under the CBA – for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty taken in Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers. MacEwen targeted Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk late in the game, receiving a five-minute match penalty for a check to the head in the game. MacEwen has appeared in six Senators games this season, scoring one assist and totaling 25 penalty minutes.
  • Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar shared that forward Jean-Luc Foudy is suffering from a lower-body injury. Bednar also shared that the team doesn’t yet know when to expect Foudy back. Foudy has yet to play this season and is currently on the team’s injured reserve. He scored 36 points in 46 AHL games last season. He was also rewarded his first nine NHL games last year, going without a point and recording a -3.
  • The New Jersey Devils have assigned forward Maxwell Willman to the Utica Comets of the AHL. Willman has appeared in four games with the Devils this season, netting one goal. He’s also appeared in seven AHL games, scoring four goals and seven points. The 28-year-old forward has totaled 54 NHL games and seven points across his career, making his debut with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2021-22 season.

West Notes: Vilardi, Harley, Benning

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Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi is nearing a return to action from an MCL sprain that’s cost him the last 14 games. Associate coach Scott Arniel said today that Vilardi will travel with the team on their upcoming three-game road swing through Tampa Bay, Florida and Nashville and is an option to play during the trip.

The 24-year-old has played in just two full games this season, sustaining the injury early in the team’s third contest of the year against his former team, the Kings, on October 17. Vilardi was the main aspect of the trade return from Los Angeles in exchange for center Pierre-Luc Dubois this summer. After a strong camp, Vilardi had earned himself a spot in the team’s top six, registering an assist through his first two contests while playing over 20 minutes per game. A first-round pick of the Kings in 2017, injuries have largely delayed Vilardi’s development, but he still managed a career-high 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games last season. He remains on injured reserve, and the Jets will need to open a spot on the 23-man roster to activate him.

Other notes out of the Western Conference to open the holiday week:

  • Stars defenseman Thomas Harley will remain out of the lineup tonight when they host the Rangers, Brien Rea of Bally Sports Southwest reports. The 22-year-old is sidelined with an upper-body injury sustained November 12 against the Wild on a hit from forward Brandon Duhaime and is listed as day-to-day. This will be Harley’s third straight absence after playing in 14 straight games to start the season. The team’s 2019 first-round pick is looking quite at home in the NHL, posting five points and a +2 rating while averaging 17:24 per game.
  • After getting Jacob MacDonald back in the fold earlier today, another injured Sharks veteran is on the precipice of a return to the lineup. Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports defenseman Matt Benning could come off IR before Wednesday’s game against the Kraken. Benning will miss his ninth straight contest tonight against Vancouver with an undisclosed injury. The 29-year-old has played in eight games this season, recording an assist and a -6 rating in 18:29 of average ice time.

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