Vegas Golden Knights Entry Draft Outlook: Gabriel Vilardi
Gabriel Vilardi is a strong candidate to be one of the top three selections in the Entry Draft in June.
Every one should know Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick by now. Those two players will headline this years rather weak draft class. There’s always diamonds in the rough, but Vegas Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee will have to dig for them.
One of those diamonds could be Gabriel Vilardi of the Windsor Spitfires who plays in the Ontario Hockey League. Vilardi is only 17 years old at the moment, but he’ll be 18 by next season making him draft eligible. Vilardi is putting up some solid numbers for the Spitfires this year despite being one of the younger Junior players.
This season, Vilardi scored 29 Goals, 32 Assists and 61 Points in 49 games played. Pretty solid numbers for a guy who’s in his second junior season. Vilardi should continue to grow and fill out his size.
Speaking of size, Vilardi already the build to be an NHL player. He stands at 6’2 and 192 lbs. Obviously a little weight gain would do him well, although the similar builds between Nolan Patrick and Vilardi are stunning and he’s even 11 months younger than Patrick is.
Vilardi has been playing the Wing most of the 2016-2017 season but he’s labeled as a natural center. The Kingston, Ontario native may not have the speed that Nolan Patrick brings but he does bring great offensive awareness.
Vilardi is more of a pass-first type of player, however if he see’s an opportunity on a scoring chance, he’ll always try to cash-in. Another great ability Vilardi has is his puck possession. As a matter of fact, Vilardi may be the best player who possesses the puck better than everyone else in the entire draft.
Scouts say Vilardi is very composed with the puck and has great hockey sense. Combine those two elements and you get one of the best two-way forwards in the entire draft. Jeff Marek of Sportsnet even said some good things about this young budding star.
The Windsor Spitfires automatically play as hosts of the Memorial Cup in May. This will be a great chance to see how Vilardi does on a big stage.
The kinks to Vilardi’s game are fixable. His lack of the big game experience is concerning but that’s not his fault. If he in fact plays the wing throughout his entire NHL career, he’s going to need to dip away from the pass-first mentality.
Next: Nico Hischier On The Vegas Golden Knights? It Could Happen.
I don’t see Vilardi on an NHL squad to begin the 2017-2018 season due to needing more time to mature and grow as a player. However, he could absolutely become a big-time first line power forward in the NHL for years to come. If McPhee and the Vegas Golden Knights still see Gabriel Vilardi sitting there at the picks three to seven, pounce on him. This kid looks like a winner in my eyes.