Gabriel Vilardi is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a sprained MCL in his right knee, Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness said Wednesday.
"It could have been a lot worse, and then he would have needed an operation and then he's done for a while," Bowness said. "Even the rehab after that becomes a lot more strenuous, so we'll take the best-case scenario as a sprain. We'll take that."
Vilardi injured his knee when he fell awkwardly after being tripped by Blake Lizotte 5:55 into the first period of a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. Lizotte was penalized on the play.
The 24-year-old forward has one assist in three games this season. He was acquired from the Kings as part of the trade that sent forward Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles on June 27 and was facing his former team for the first time.
"I feel terrible for him," Bowness said. "Listen, he's a big part of our team. He's on the No. 1 line, No. 1 power play, and he looked good doing it. He worked very hard all summer, and he is a really good fit for KC [Kyle Connor] and Mark [Scheifele], and unfortunate that happened. He's had a tough time with injuries, hopefully this is it for the year and he comes back, and he'll be a major contributor as the season goes on."
Vilardi signed a two-year, $6.875 million contract (average annual value of $3,437,500) with Winnipeg on July 19 to avoid a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for July 28. He set NHL career highs with 23 goals, 18 assists and 41 points in 63 regular-season games and four points (two goals, two assists) in five Stanley Cup Playoff games with Los Angeles last season.
"It's awful," Jets forward Cole Perfetti said after the game Tuesday. "He looked like he was in a little bit of pain. Just praying for the best and hope it's nothing serious, and whatever it is he has a speedy recovery. We need him back in our lineup because he is such an elite player."
Selected by the Kings with the No. 11 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Vilardi had 78 points (41 goals, 37 assists) in 152 regular-season games and four points (two goals, two assists) in seven playoff games during four seasons in Los Angeles.
NHL.com independent correspondent Darrin Bauming contributed to this report
