Player Discussion: Gabriel "The Net Front King" Vilardi

[ERYX]

I am not ruling any option out currently. It must be a bit humbling for both Helle and Mark if the rumors are true about teams being luke warm or possibly scared off a bit by the next contract. It seems like there are some good posters on our board who are less scared than me of extending Mark to stay in Winnipeg. No matter what it will work itself out over the next 12 months

I'm scared but I'm also making peace with it in my mind because I think it's what Chevy does. A loyalty contract would certainly be his MO unless Mark is publicly demanding a trade.

Oh wait, you said good posters ...

 

[nobody imp0rtant]

He has the same agent as Laine.

 

[MrBoJangelz71]

 

[GeorgeJETson]

One thing that LA fans have said with this trade is that Kupari is the wild card. How the brass in LA were trying to turn him into a 2way bottom 6 C and how his game really isn't suited to that. He plays fast, hes physical and his game is mostly about offence so I hope the Jets dont try to fit a square peg into a round hole like LA was.

Knowing what our coaching staff have done for years, that's most likely what this org will do (a la LA)

 

[KingBogo]

Knowing what our coaching staff have done for years, that's most likely what this org will do (a la LA)

That is a big part of making it in the NHL is adjusting to available roles. Until junior all these guys grew up being the best players on their teams and the top point getters on forward or top defensemen. Players need to find ways to contribute and if you show yourself to have NHL level top 6 scoring you will end up there. If not you need to find a role to stick.

 

[Daximus]

Well we will just have to see. I want a modern third line anyhow so I don't see why such a setup wouldn't fit.

His point totals haven't been amazing at any level outside his short stint in the AHL last as a 22 year old.

Hard to know if he has enough of it to carve out a top 6 NHL role. But I'm sure he'll get injury fill in time in the top 6 like Barron got last year.

He's also gotten mostly 4th line minutes when with the Kings according to their fans. They see him as having been heavily mismanaged and think if he makes it at all it is very unlikely to be as a checking line forward. Kids got size, speed, offensive skill, physicality and is decent on the dot. We gotta give him a short look I think just to see if there is anything there. Unlikely to hurt his development given he hasn't really acceled at a checking role anyways and we know the drill when it comes to putting players in positions their not really tailored for.

 

[MardyBum]

He has the same agent as Laine.

Fwiw Mike Liut was his agent when he was with the Jets.

 

[KingBogo]

He's also gotten mostly 4th line minutes when with the Kings according to their fans. They see him as having been heavily mismanaged and think if he makes it at all it is very unlikely to be as a checking line forward. Kids got size, speed, offensive skill, physicality and is decent on the dot. We gotta give him a short look I think just to see if there is anything there. Unlikely to hurt his development given he hasn't really acceled at a checking role anyways and we know the drill when it comes to putting players in positions their not really tailored for.

There is no evidence that Kupari has been a point getter at any level. Even at the AHL is only around a .5 PPG player. Before that at lower levels he was never a big point getter. You never know if a guy puts it together in his early 20’s but unlikely. I’m hoping for a solid 4th line guy who can put the odd one in and is defensively strong. Sounds like he can be a good PK guy.

 

[10Ducky10]

LA fans want to see their 1st rounder higher than the 4th line and I guess the LA coaches didn't agree with them.
Not the first time, not the last time.

 

[surixon]

He's also gotten mostly 4th line minutes when with the Kings according to their fans. They see him as having been heavily mismanaged and think if he makes it at all it is very unlikely to be as a checking line forward. Kids got size, speed, offensive skill, physicality and is decent on the dot. We gotta give him a short look I think just to see if there is anything there. Unlikely to hurt his development given he hasn't really acceled at a checking role anyways and we know the drill when it comes to putting players in positions their not really tailored for.

I'm sure he will get one at some point. Almost everyone in our bottom 6 last year got games in the top 6. I doubt this year will be any different.

 

[Buffdog]

I'm sure he will get one at some point. Almost everyone in our bottom 6 last year got games in the top 6. I doubt this year will be any different.

Thankfully, I think it's safe to say that our bottom 6 is much improved over last year and should show better in the top 6 if the need arises

So much of next year depends on whether or not schief is here and whether perfetti, ehelers and vilardi can play 70 games

 

[Thechozen1]

The fact that sweet goal was on Binnington makes it even better as far as I’m concerned. I HATE Binnington. EFF that guy!!!

 

[Rod Auger]

 

[Statto]

Kings fan.

As much as it’s open to debate as to who ends up the better player, I don’t much care. I hate the trade mostly because I rate Vilardi so highly.

I fully expected him to get through his back issues and the wall of silence around injuries in LA means we have no idea if his other injuries are related. I guess questions will remain about his durability until he plays 75g + but personally I’m not worried.

Hes a great player, smart, strong, good vision, high skill and great hands. I’d certainly gamble on locking him up long term because he has lots of further upside to unlock. I wish him well.

 

[kylbaz]

There is no evidence that Kupari has been a point getter at any level. Even at the AHL is only around a .5 PPG player. Before that at lower levels he was never a big point getter. You never know if a guy puts it together in his early 20’s but unlikely. I’m hoping for a solid 4th line guy who can put the odd one in and is defensively strong. Sounds like he can be a good PK guy.

The talent is there but this far with plenty of opportunity he hasn't shown anything. I could see the jets throwing him on the first or second line to see if he can stick surrounded by high end talent.

 

[Maukkis]

The talent is there but this far with plenty of opportunity he hasn't shown anything. I could see the jets throwing him on the first or second line to see if he can stick surrounded by high end talent.

He's averaged under 11 minutes a night over his career and managed to stay in a regular role. That is a very good showing. If you want to see production, maybe give the guy more than fourth line minutes with fourth line linemates.

 

[Fishhead]

Kupari started hitting his stride with us when he embraced that bottom-6 role. A lot of Kings fans think he was mishandled, and he may have been here or there, but he's not a top-6 talent. He's never exhibited that kind of scoring prowess at any time in our system, even when he was given great minutes in the minors. Expecting 2nd line production out of him is too high of an expectation, I see him topping at around 25, maybe 30 points even if he sees increased time. You could put him on a top line and get 30-35, I suppose, but that's not really feasible.

He started turning into a fantastic energy guy and an adept penalty killer, to the point where McClellan started putting him out in key situations on the PK. He went from hesitant and a bit contact shy to someone who would go in hard and muck it up. He's not gonna drop them all the time but he's not soft. He's a passable 3rd liner if you need him to be, but I see him as a top 4th-line guy, like a Cizikas with a little less touch and more size. He's decent on the dot and one part of his value is being able to spell the top centers by not having to roll them out on the PK.

 

[10Ducky10]

Kupari started hitting his stride with us when he embraced that bottom-6 role. A lot of Kings fans think he was mishandled, and he may have been here or there, but he's not a top-6 talent. He's never exhibited that kind of scoring prowess at any time in our system, even when he was given great minutes in the minors. Expecting 2nd line production out of him is too high of an expectation, I see him topping at around 25, maybe 30 points even if he sees increased time. You could put him on a top line and get 30-35, I suppose, but that's not really feasible.

He started turning into a fantastic energy guy and an adept penalty killer, to the point where McClellan started putting him out in key situations on the PK. He went from hesitant and a bit contact shy to someone who would go in hard and muck it up. He's not gonna drop them all the time but he's not soft. He's a passable 3rd liner if you need him to be, but I see him as a top 4th-line guy, like a Cizikas with a little less touch and more size. He's decent on the dot and one part of his value is being able to spell the top centers by not having to roll them out on the PK.

Thanks for your review.
Nice to have another team's fan come on here with a knowledgable, respectful post.
Some Habs' fans could learn from some of these LA fans visiting our board.

 

[DRW204]

Similarly to scheifele, both had individual sh% among the best in the league (5v5) but seems like their linemates could not finish (both were sub 6%, among the league worst for fwds in finishing help from linemates)

scheifele is far more proven/reliable given he's been essentially above 15% for 5-years straight (one year was 14.7%) whereas this was really Vilardi's 1st real good year

just to put in perspective - the Jets and Kings had team sh%'s of 8.22% and 8.14% respectively. Former Jets 2C PLD had an individual sh% of 9.92% while his line-mates posted a sh% of 9.92% (played w/ connor lots so makes sense). scheifele's linemates were at 5.96%, and vilardi's were at 5.14%. so both below team average, and league-wide 5v5 sh% of 8.6%. the nhl fwds that scheifele and vilardi are ranked similarly with who had poor line-mate finishing include guys that are mostly bottom-6ers or players on crap teams (which makes sense).

for xGF fanatics.... in GF vs xGF (linemates vs individual)
scheifele's linemates were -11.76 vs 9.65
vilardi's linemates were -7.73 vs 5.81

in scheifele's case he still rated a great playmaker was saddled with non-finishers and/or journeyman guys, and then there was the 2nd half where only scheifele could basically score for a long while. not sure w/ vilardi if it's bad-luck, bad linemates, etc. didn't watch the Kings enough. i think both will be in-line for big offensive years.

 

[ps241]

Similarly to scheifele, both had individual sh% among the best in the league (5v5) but seems like their linemates could not finish (both were sub 6%, among the league worst for fwds in finishing help from linemates)

scheifele is far more proven/reliable given he's been essentially above 15% for 5-years straight (one year was 14.7%) whereas this was really Vilardi's 1st real good year

just to put in perspective - the Jets and Kings had team sh%'s of 8.22% and 8.14% respectively. Former Jets 2C PLD had an individual sh% of 9.92% while his line-mates posted a sh% of 9.92% (played w/ connor lots so makes sense). scheifele's linemates were at 5.96%, and vilardi's were at 5.14%. so both below team average, and league-wide 5v5 sh% of 8.6%. the nhl fwds that scheifele and vilardi are ranked similarly with who had poor line-mate finishing include guys that are mostly bottom-6ers or players on crap teams (which makes sense).

for xGF fanatics.... in GF vs xGF (linemates vs individual)
scheifele's linemates were -11.76 vs 9.65
vilardi's linemates were -7.73 vs 5.81

in scheifele's case he still rated a great playmaker was saddled with non-finishers and/or journeyman guys, and then there was the 2nd half where only scheifele could basically score for a long while. not sure w/ vilardi if it's bad-luck, bad linemates, etc. didn't watch the Kings enough. i think both will be in-line for big offensive years.

When you posted this breakdown in another thread I searched up Scheifele’s career stats and was really surprised how high his shooting % is. Maybe a sign of a guy who is selective with his shots as well as accurate. Mark has always been a really good offensive talent.

 

[JetsFan815]

in scheifele's case he still rated a great playmaker was saddled with non-finishers and/or journeyman guys, and then there was the 2nd half where only scheifele could basically score for a long while. not sure w/ vilardi if it's bad-luck, bad linemates, etc. didn't watch the Kings enough. i think both will be in-line for big offensive years.

Based on evolving-wild data this worst on-ice shooting % was with Kopitar and Kempe, two pretty good players and in Kempe's case a good finisher:

So seems like bad luck to me, had atleast average on-ice sh% with most other players

 

[DRW204]

When you posted this breakdown in another thread I searched up Scheifele’s career stats and was really surprised how high his shooting % is. Maybe a sign of a guy who is selective with his shots as well as accurate. Mark has always been a really good offensive talent.

yup. his shot is lethal.

i actually sometimes wish he'd be a tad more selfish given his efficiency. even if his sh% drops a bit he'd still be way above league average.

he's poised for a v good year offensively.
& if away from connor - probably a much better year defensively than recent years.

imo: i'd try him with ehlers and nino on his wings.

Based on evolving-wild data this worst on-ice shooting % was with Kopitar and Kempe, two pretty good players and in Kempe's case a good finisher:

So seems like bad luck to me, had atleast average on-ice sh% with most other players

this includes vilardi's shots/goals though right?
he shot 18+% on at 5v5 (not sure if yours includes EN?) so that'd inflate these #s.

i think there's lots of TOI and line-combos missing from this as well.

 

[JetsFan815]

Kupari started hitting his stride with us when he embraced that bottom-6 role. A lot of Kings fans think he was mishandled, and he may have been here or there, but he's not a top-6 talent. He's never exhibited that kind of scoring prowess at any time in our system, even when he was given great minutes in the minors. Expecting 2nd line production out of him is too high of an expectation, I see him topping at around 25, maybe 30 points even if he sees increased time. You could put him on a top line and get 30-35, I suppose, but that's not really feasible.

He started turning into a fantastic energy guy and an adept penalty killer, to the point where McClellan started putting him out in key situations on the PK. He went from hesitant and a bit contact shy to someone who would go in hard and muck it up. He's not gonna drop them all the time but he's not soft. He's a passable 3rd liner if you need him to be, but I see him as a top 4th-line guy, like a Cizikas with a little less touch and more size. He's decent on the dot and one part of his value is being able to spell the top centers by not having to roll them out on the PK.

Fans in every fanbase think that their "highly promising former 1st round pick with great pedigree" not living up to expectations is because of the player being mishandled. There are people in the Jets fandom who think Veslainen couldn't make it because he was mishandled.

I am not expecting much more than a bottom-6 player from him, if he can be a decent bottom-6 player that'd be good by me. A Joel Armia type might be the absolute best case scenario if everything goes right.

 

[JetsFan815]

this includes vilardi's shots/goals though right?
he shot 18+% on at 5v5 (not sure if yours includes EN?) so that'd inflate these #s.

i think there's lots of TOI and line-combos missing from this as well.

You're right, it was cutting off at min 30 mins filter, here's the full list:

It is 5v5 only, no EN. It does include his sh% but even with that it's a decent proxy, the numbers with kopitar and kempe are so low esp considering the icetime with those 2 players that it is very likely that a big chunk of the "teammate's bad sh%" is coming from those two players.

 

[DRW204]

You're right, it was cutting off at min 30 mins filter, here's the full list:

It is 5v5 only, no EN. It does include his sh% but even with that it's a decent proxy, the numbers with kopitar and kempe are so low esp considering the icetime with those 2 players that it is very likely that a big chunk of the "teammate's bad sh%" is coming from those two players.

yeah even Fiala for instance shot 6.25%, last 3 years he was 2x+ more efficient at 12.9%