Winnipeg Jets’ Gabe Vilardi exits game with lower-body injury

Winnipeg Jets forward Gabe Vilardi left Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings with a lower-body injury.

The incident occurred when Kings forward and former teammate Blake Lizotte took him down in the corner, and Vilardi twisted his knee on his way down. He was visibly shaken up.

The 23-year-old has registered one assist in two games this season with the Jets. Vilardi was acquired in a package deal along with Rasmus Kupari and Alex Iaffalo in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois earlier in the summer. The Jets resigned Vilardi to a two-year contract with a $3.4375 million cap hit.

Vilardi is coming off a career year with the Kings in 2022-23, where he had 23 goals, 18 assists, and 41 points in 63 regular season games, with his goal total alone tying his previous career-high in points. He also played in five playoff games, with two goals, two assists, and four points, as the Kings were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in six games by the Edmonton Oilers. In 152 games with the Kings spanning over four seasons, Vilardi notched 41 goals and 37 assists for 78 points. He added four points in seven Stanley Cup Playoff contests.

Vilardi was initially selected in the first round, No. 11 overall, by the Kings in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The Kingston, Ontario, product spent three years in the Ontario Hockey League with the Windsor Spitfires and Kingston Frontenacs, where he tallied 68 goals and 89 assists for 157 points in 143 games. During the 2016-17 OHL season, Vilardi helped the Spitfires capture the Memorial Cup; he was named to the CHL Memorial Cup First All-Star Team.