Gabriel "Gabe" Vilardi (born August 16, 1999) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

currently playing for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was drafted eleventh overall by the Kings in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Vilardi was drafted in the first round, second overall, in the 2015 OHL Priority Selection by the

Windsor Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975� ...

. While Vilardi is a natural centre he has primarily played as a winger with Windsor. Leading up to the NHL draft, Vilardi was seen as a top prospect and was ranked the No. 4 North American skater by

NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League that ranks prospects for the NHL Entry Draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate to the profe ...

Craig Button Craig J. Button (born January 3, 1963) is currently a ice hockey analyst for TSN and a former National Hockey League (NHL) executive. Early life and hockey family Born in Rochester, New York, Button entered the world of hockey at birth. His fa ...

of TSN described him as a big and strong centre with so much offensive upside. In the 2017–18 season, on January 1, 2018, Vilardi along with

Sean Day Sean Day (born January 9, 1998) is a Belgian-born Canadian-American professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing for the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Tampa Bay Lightning of the N ...

were traded by the Spitfires to the Kingston Frontenacs in exchange for Cody Morgan and six draft picks. On March 1, 2018, Vilardi signed a three-year entry-level contract with the

. Due to a chronic back issue, Vilardi did not make his professional debut with

Ontario Reign The Ontario Reign are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play in the 2015–16 season. Based in Ontario, California, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings, the team plays ...

, the Kings

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

affiliate, until November 29, 2018. He earned his first professional point three days later against the

Tucson Roadrunners The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, the team plays i ...

. On December 10, the Kings loaned Vilardi to Team Canada for a chance to compete at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Having recovered from his back issue, Vilardi found a more consistent spot with the Reign, playing 32 games in 2019–20, scoring 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points. On February 20, 2020, Vilardi was recalled to the Kings from the Ontario Reign. He made his NHL debut later that night against the Florida Panthers. On his first career shot, Vilardi fired a wrist shot past Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Vilardi set a new NHL record, scoring his first career goal 6 seconds into his first career shift. Vilardi added an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

in the second period on a goal scored by Martin Frk. As a restricted free agent, Vilardi was signed to a one-year, $825,000 contract extension with the Kings on July 23, 2022.

Personal life

Vilardi was born to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

parents Natale Vilardi and Giovanna Siviglia who moved from Reggio Calabria to

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

. His older brother Francesco played three seasons in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

, and now plays for Queen's University hockey team.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* * 1999 births Living people Canadian ice hockey players Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian people of Italian descent Ice hockey people from Ontario Kingston Frontenacs players Los Angeles Kings draft picks Los Angeles Kings players National Hockey League first-round draft picks Ontario Reign (AHL) players Sportspeople from Kingston, Ontario Windsor Spitfires players {{Canada-icehockey-centre-1990s-stub