Byfield and Kaliyev won very few puck battles in the NHL too. When Vilardi shows his potential, it's really fun to watch. He isn't living up to it yet, but he also just turned 22 yesterday. He still has plenty of time to figure it out.
In Dustin Brown's age 21 season, he scored 14 goals and 14 assists in 79 games. Vilardi just posted 10 goals and 13 assists in 54 games. Tyler Toffoli put up 12 goals and 17 assists in 62 games. Mike Richards put up 10 goals and 22 assists.
Most guys in the NHL aren't productive at 21. In fact, the only guys born in '99 or later that were more productive than Vilardi last season were Max Comtois, Martin Necas, Josh Norris, Jason Robertson, Nick Suzuki, Brady Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes, Joel Farabre, Andrei Svechnikov, Jack Hughes, and Tim Stützle. There's maybe another 10 players born in '98 who were more productive than Gabe.
Long story short, he's got plenty of room to grow. And happy belated birthday, Gabe.