Vilardi eager for opportunity with Jets

Gabriel Vilardi believes his performance in the 2022-23 season is a sign of things to come.

It was his first full season in the National Hockey League, the first time he crossed the 20-goal mark, and he did it all at the age of 23.

By the time he gets to Winnipeg for training camp, the 11th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft will be 24, but he knows his best hockey is still in front of him.

"I think being more of a shoot-first guy kind of changed that for my game," Vilardi said on a Zoom call from his hometown of Kingston, Ontario on Wednesday. "I think one thing (Los Angeles Kings head coach) Todd (McLellan) was very hard on me was my defensive game in terms of the first few years of my pro career. I think last year I kind of turned that corner and he kind of relied on me a bit more in the defence end, which is obviously huge."

Vilardi is one of three forwards Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets acquired from the Kings on Tuesday in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois. In addition to Vilardi, 29-year-old Alex Iafallo and 23-year-old Rasmus Kupari will also be making the trip up north (with the Jets also acquiring a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft).

"It's great to come with other guys. Obviously it will help all of us settle in hopefully a little sooner," said Vilardi. "Alex, he does everything. He's very good defensively. Very trustworthy guy. Sneaky skill. He does everything really well. And then I think Ras is just a very speedy guy. Lots of skill."

Vilardi and Kupari are both restricted free agents (Vilardi has arbitration rights) while Iafallo has two years left on his contract with an average annual value of $4 million.

At this point, Vilardi said he hasn't had any conversations with Cheveldayoff, but is excited to get to Winnipeg.

"The Jets traded for me so obviously they want me. I want to be there, I'm excited," Vilardi said. "Hopefully we can get something done here soon. I think for the most part, it's just my agent. I don't really know much."

He does know a few faces on the Jets roster. He played with Logan Stanley with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League in 2016-17, winning the Memorial Cup. A few years later, he was teammates with Cole Perfetti at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in 2021, winning a gold medal with Canada. On top of that, Vilardi said he also knows Mark Scheifele.

Vilardi averaged 15:36 of ice time with the Kings last season and feels comfortable playing both centre and on the wing. He was fourth on the Kings in average power play time (2:58 per game), and perhaps the most important part of last season was that he was healthy - for the most part.

He missed the final nine games of the regular season due to an upper-body injury and, after missing Game 1 of Los Angeles' series with the Edmonton Oilers, hopped right back into action picking up four points in five games.

The early part of his career was plagued by back injuries, limiting him to just four games with the Kings American Hockey League affiliate - the Ontario Reign - in 2018-19.

Since then, he's slowly become a regular in the NHL, using his 6'3" and 215-pound frame to maximum effectiveness.

"I missed a lot of hockey the first three years past my draft. But since then, for the most part, I've been pretty healthy," said Vilardi, who insists his back is 100 percent these days.

"I do a lot movements and training that's specific to try and protect your back. I think most guys do that though. You want to stay healthy and limit the risk, when possible, of injuring yourself. For the most part, my training program and what I do off the ice helps my back."

The majority of Vilardi's summer will be spent in Kingston, a place he doesn't get back to much once the hockey season starts. He'll make a quick trip out to Calgary to see his brother, but besides that, he's all business preparing for his first season as a Jet.

If that's not enough motivation, having a chance to play in a Canadian market is the cherry on top.

"It's different being in Canada. You do miss it. It's always cool when you play in Canada on the road. So now I'll be playing in Canada all the time," he said. "I'm really excited to be back in Canada. My girlfriend is from So-Cal, so I'm not sure how excited she is, but she's going to find out soon.

"It's been good in L.A., obviously really nice. Living at the beach is pretty cool but at the end of the day, I'm a hockey player. It's just business. I'm going to play hockey."