Elliotte Freidman of Sportsnet reported on Wednesday, July 19, that the Winnipeg Jets and Gabriel Vilardi have reached a pre-arbitration agreement. The contract is a two-year deal, with an average annual value (AAV) of $3.4375 million.
Related: 3 Jets Breakout Candidates for 2023-24
The actual contract itself provides great value, but arguably the best part of this deal is that it came before arbitration. Going to arbitration with a newly acquired player is something that can go south fast, and the Jets avoiding that back-and-forth is a win by itself. Prior to this deal, the organization had $7.2 million in cap space, and this now knocks that number down to $3.77 million.
Jets’ Gabriel Vilardi Elects for a “Bridge Deal”
The newly acquired Vilardi elected for a two-year contract, a “bridge deal” that will bring him to age 25 and potentially involve a breakout season or two. Last week at The Hockey Writers, we listed Vilardi as a potential breakout candidate for the 2023-24 campaign, and he is making that same bet with this contract.
He is coming off a season where he played only 63 games but posted 23 goals and 18 assists for an impressive 41 points. That rate gave him 0.355 goals per game in 2022-23, which was higher than Artemi Panarin, Alexander Barkov, Joe Pavelski, and the recently traded Alex DeBrincat. He is betting that he will be able to play over 70 games and potentially hit the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career.
The Jets are banking on that breakout as well, as Vilardi will likely be asked to play a top-six role, whether that be down the middle or on the wing. He posted better results on the wing last year, but a lack of centre depth may force Vilardi to make the move to centre next season.
Mark Scheifele is currently the Jets’ top centre, and Adam Lowry is the third-line centre. The names in the running for the second-line centre role include Vilardi, Cole Perfetti, and Vladislav Namestnikov, who filled that role near the end of last season.
Vilardi Should Provide Surplus Value for Two Seasons
While many Jets fans wanted to see a longer-term contract, the value that Vilardi will provide on this short-term deal cannot be understated. This player card from The Athletic outlines how he provides incredible value on his entry-level contract (ELC) for the Los Angeles Kings last season in more ways than being a shoot-first winger.
His defensive abilities are arguably his most impressive attribute, and for a forward core that has been desperately lacking sound defensive play for the past handful of seasons, Vilardi will be a welcome addition to the top six to help ease the burden on the defence core.
From Vilardi’s standpoint, this is the perfect time in his career to bet on himself and secure a major pay raise when this contract expires. Playing with skilled forwards, such as Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, and another young breakout candidate in Perfetti, should give him a bump in production. It is too early to predict whether or not he will be on the Jets’ top power play, but the ultimate boost to his stat line would be racking up goals and assists with the man advantage.
Alex Iafallo, who also came to the Jets organization through the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade, shares the defensive attributes that seemed contagious within the Kings organization. While Iafallo will likely play a third-line role with the Jets, his penalty-killing abilities will add to an already exceptional group.
Jets are Building a Two-Year “Window”
I am reluctant to call it a “contention window” with the futures of Connor Hellebuyck and Scheifele still up in the air as early as this upcoming season, but the Jets are creating a window of contracts that are set to expire after the 2024-25 season. Vilardi, Iafallo, Ehlers, Namestnikov, Morgan Barron, Nate Schmidt, Neal Pionk, and Dylan Samberg’s contracts all expire at the same time.
If the Jets are attempting to contend this season with the futures of Hellebuyck and Scheifele up in the air, Vilardi breaking out and soaring over his totals from 2022-23 is something that will need to happen. Jets fans and the organization will love the blockbuster trade even more if he can fill the void left at second-line centre.
The good news is that the Jets don’t have much salary committed to the roster when those players’ contracts expire. Josh Morrissey, Connor, and Adam Lowry are the only three players under contract for the 2025-26 season. Safe to say, the Jets’ roster will be full of new up-and-coming prospects, and the Jets will have plenty of money to re-sign these players.
This contract was just another step in a busy offseason for general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff. With three restricted free agents (RFAs) still to sign in Logan Stanley, Declan Chisholm, and Rasmus Kupari, his work is far from over. We are still a month and a half away from the beginning of training camp, so there is plenty of time for these deals to work themselves out, but in the meantime, the organization’s focus will shift to their remaining RFAs.
