Wings Nation First Round Targets: Gabriel Vilardi
By David Law
6 years agoGabe Vilardi might be first round target that’s closest to home for Detroit. Originally from Kingston, Ontario, Vilardi has played his junior hockey only a few kilometres south-east of Joe Louis Arena at the WFCU Centre for the Memorial Cup Champion Windsor Spitfires. Though naturally a centre Vilardi has been playing the wing for Windsor this year (much like previous top-ranked Spitfire Taylor Hall did during his Memorial Cup run.) Vilardi is a big, powerful forward who has high intelligence and knows how to use his size. He is a fantastic two-way player but doesn’t shy away from crashing the net. At a listed 6’3 and 201 lbs Vilardi could stand to put on some weight (like most young players) but has body awareness and makes great use of his size.
NHL CS RANKINGS
Vilardi is projected to go 4th overall by NHL Central Scouting.
THE STATS
(Stats courtesy of EliteProspects)
Vilardi has only had two full seasons in the OHL, both with Windsor. He suffered an injury early this year and was limited to only 49 games. Even though he played significantly fewer games this year his point totals increased by a large margin. It’s clear that Vilardi is coming into his own. The Spitfires only played in 4 games in the Memorial Cup tournament and we can see that Vilardi had a stat-line of 0-7-7. He was named to the tournament all-star team. His stats show constant improvement and that he has the ability to put up some serious points.
THE EYE TEST
Over at NHL’s Central Scouting site Dan Marr has this to say about Vilardi:
“VILARDI IS A HIGH-END POSSESSION CENTER WITH EXCELLENT HOCKEY SENSE AND PUCK-HANDLING ABILITY. HE PLAYS A VERY COMPOSED GAME WITH THE PUCK, USING HIS VISION AND PLAYMAKING ABILITY TO INFLUENCE THE GAME IN ALL THREE ZONES. VILARDI EXCELS BELOW THE DOTS IN THE OFFENSIVE ZONE, WHERE HE UTILIZES HIS SIZE AND REACH TO CONTROL THE PLAY AND GENERATE SCORING OPPORTUNITIES.”
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DOES HE FIT IN WITH THE RED WINGS?
Absolutely. Vilardi is a classic Red Wing with his two-way style of play. He would be a significant asset to Detroit on a top-line. His size is rare on Detroit and coupled with his skill level and hockey awareness would open up a ton of room for Detroit’s smaller forwards. His skating will need a bit of work to be at an NHL top-6 level but it is already functional. In the unlikely event he falls to Detroit (fingers crossed) it will be interesting to see if he performs well enough in camp to make the decision to send him back to Windsor a difficult one.
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