West Notes: Vilardi, Pietrangelo, Ceci, Strome
The Jets will welcome a key forward back to their lineup on Saturday against Ottawa as Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun relays that Gabriel Vilardi has been cleared to return. The 24-year-old has missed the last 15 games due to an enlarged spleen that was diagnosed while treating another injury. A key part of the return in the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade over the summer, Vilardi has been quite impactful when healthy this season, tallying 16 goals and 14 assists in just 38 games. With Winnipeg losing their last five games, his return will certainly be a welcome one as they look to get back on track and hold onto the third spot in the Central with Nashville closing in quickly.
More from the Western Conference:
- The Golden Knights revealed (Twitter link) that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has joined up with the team on their road trip. The 34-year-old has missed the last six games due to illness, a big blow to their back end. Pietrangelo has 32 points and 155 blocks in 62 appearances so far this season while logging a little over 24 minutes per night to lead Vegas in that department. His eventual return – which could be as soon as Saturday – would be a significant addition as the Golden Knights continue to battle for seeding in the Pacific Division.
- Oilers defenseman Cody Ceci is listed as a game-time decision for Saturday’s game against Anaheim due to illness, relays Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 30-year-old has played an important role for Edmonton this season, logging just under 20 minutes a night while chipping in with 21 points in 71 games. If he can’t play, Troy Stecher will likely return to the lineup.
- The league announced that Ducks forward Ryan Strome was fined the maximum of $5K for a cross-check on Seattle’s Tye Kartye during yesterday’s game. The incident occurred early in the third period with both players receiving penalties on the play, Strome for the cross-check and Kartye for roughing.
West Notes: Hronek, Vilardi, Tourigny, Bardakov
In an appearance on Sekeres and Price (video link), Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli discusses the importance of the Canucks avoiding salary arbitration with pending RFA defenseman Filip Hronek. The team may view Quinn Hughes’ $7.85MM cap hit as a ceiling they don’t want to surpass when it comes to spending on their defensemen. However, Hronek has already set career highs in assists (40) and points (45) this season while logging over 23 minutes a night. Arbitration-eligible for the first time this summer, the two sides going to a hearing could push Hronek’s award past the $7MM mark. Accordingly, settling before it gets to that point should be high on Vancouver’s priority list this offseason.
More from the Western Conference:
- Jets center Gabriel Vilardi returned to practice today as he works his way back from an enlarged spleen. Murat Ates of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old is expected to skate with the team every day this week as he works on getting back into playing condition. When healthy, Vilardi has been a key producer for Winnipeg this season, notching 16 goals and 14 assists in just 38 games so far.
- Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny is expected to serve as Canada’s head coach at the upcoming World Championship although it’s not yet official, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. Tourigny served in that role last year, helping lead Canada to the gold medal.
- Avalanche prospect Zakhar Bardakov intends to sign with Colorado and play in North America after next season, his agent Shumi Babaev told Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now. The 23-year-old was picked up from New Jersey in the Kurtis MacDermid trade and had a dozen points in 51 games with SKA St. Petersburg this season. Bardakov’s KHL deal is expiring and Babaev noted that Bardakov intends to play next season in that league; it remains to be seen if that will be with SKA or another organization.
Central Notes: Vilardi, Pionk, Krug
During this week’s iteration of 32 Thoughts with Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek, the two have reported that the Winnipeg Jets are operating under the belief that forward Gabriel Vilardi will return before the end of the season. Vilardi has been out since the team’s March 2nd game against the Dallas Stars with an upper-body injury.
It has been a difficult season in Manitoba for Vilardi, who is in his first year with the organization since being acquired in the trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings. In a separate injury at the beginning of the year, Vilardi injured his MCL which led to his absence for a total of six weeks.
When healthy, Vilardi has been a valueable forward for the Jets, scoring 16 goals and 30 points in only 38 games on the year. Now that Winnipeg is squarely in the race for the Central Division crown, Vilardi will be an important piece to get back into the lineup during the home stretch.
Other Central notes:
- Staying in Winnipeg, although his status was questionable for tonight’s matchup against the New Jersey Devils due to an illness, defenseman Neal Pionk was able to enter the lineup (X Link). Still operating as a solid two-way defenseman in his fifth year with the Jets organization, Pionk has scored five goals and 25 points for Winnipeg this season, averaging just under 21 minutes of ice time per night.
- In tonight’s tilt against the Ottawa Senators, the St. Louis Blues will be without defenseman Torey Krug, who was suffering from a lower-body injury (Article Link). Nevertheless, it has still been one of the healthiest years to date for Krug, who has not broken the 64 games played mark since the 2017-18 NHL season. Once again putting up quality offensive production, Krug has scored three goals and 34 points over 69 games this season.
Jets’ Gabriel Vilardi Out Indefinitely With Enlarged Spleen
Winnipeg Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi has an enlarged spleen and will be out indefinitely, shares head coach Rick Bowness after the team’s Friday practice. Vilardi has missed the team’s last seven games and will now miss at least five more, as the Jets take off on an extended road trip that Vilardi won’t join. Bowness added that this issue was recently discovered and that Vilardi is receiving treatment.
Vilardi has been limited to just 38 games this season, missing six weeks of play earlier in the season after suffering a sprained MCL and suffering scattered day-to-day injuries throughout the year. It’s been far from an ideal start to Vilardi’s time in Winnipeg, after joining the team alongside Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a 2024 second-round pick in the deal that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings. It’s unfortunate to see injuries marring Vilardi’s season, which has been incredibly productive when he is healthy. The 24-year-old centerman has 16 goals and 30 points on the year, scoring at an 82-game pace of 35 goals and 65 points. It’s the highest scoring-pace of Vilardi’s career, continuing the strong pace he set last season when he totaled 23 goals and 41 points in 63 games.
Missing Vilardi has left a notable hole in the Jets’ top-six. And while extra ice time to Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton helped supplement that absence, the Jets were still in need of an extra spark – leading them to acquire the New Jersey Devils’ leading goal-scorer in Tyler Toffoli. Winnipeg sent a second and third round pick to New Jersey for Toffoli and, while he hasn’t scored a point in two games with the Jets, the 31-year-old veteran is clearly feeling comfortable, maintaining his high-volume shooting with nine shot attempts in his pair of games. The Jets will hope that comfortability turns into goals very quickly, as they’re now down Vilardi for the short term, at least.
Western Notes: Scheifele, Vilardi, Dunn, Kovalenko
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
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
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
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
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
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.