BringTheReign
Registered User
What's everyone's thoughts on Gabe and his 10 games played? I'm extremely impressed with him, and if he stays healthy he looks to be a franchise player. He made the most out of his limited minutes and to me looks like he'll be a ppg player for us.
I'll say that franchise player is a bit of a stretch for me at this point, mainly due to his skating, but he certainly looks like a 2nd line center and 1st unit PP QB at minimum. I've been extremely impressed with his play below the dots in both zones, and it's definitely clear that his hockey IQ is through the roof. However, his foot speed is average at best. I'm hoping that is more the fact that he's likely still not in "NHL shape" with respect to his aerobic capacity.
All that being said, great players like Tavares and Draisatl have overcome entering the NHL with lackluster foot speed, and I could absolutely see Vilardi doing so too and reaching the echelon of top 10 centermen. He knows the game that well.
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