Gabriel Vilardi will be out indefinitely for the Winnipeg Jets because of an enlarged spleen.
The forward had missed seven games entering Friday because of an unrelated upper-body injury sustained Feb. 29. He has 30 points (16 goals, 14 assists) in 38 games this season, his first with Winnipeg since being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings on June 27 with forwards Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois.
"After further testing, he has an enlarged spleen, so at this point there is no timetable [for a return]. ... He will not be traveling with the team," Jets coach Rick Bowness said Friday. "[The doctors are] treating it as best as they can. … He's in good hands here."
Vilardi previously missed 18 games from Oct. 19-Nov. 28 because of a knee injury, and two games from Jan. 22-24 because of a lower-body injury.
"He's a great kid and he's overcome a few injuries over his earlier career, so you hope that when this is behind him, he gets a chance to get healthy and play consistently," Bowness said.
Vilardi has an NHL career-high six power-play goals and 11 power-play points this season and is averaging 16:56 of ice time per game, the most in his five NHL seasons. However, he has never played more than 63 games in a season due to injuries.
"It obviously [stinks]," Jets forward Mark Scheifele said. "All you do is hope and pray that he is healthy. That's part of the game. It's a physical game, it’s a grueling game and obviously we've played a lot of games in the last little bit and things are going to pop up. You just hope and pray that he comes back soon and 100 percent healthy."
The Jets (42-19-5), who defeated the Anaheim Ducks 6-0 on Friday, trail the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars by two points for first place in the Central Division.
"We certainly miss him," Bowness said. "He was a big part of the trade last year and we saw the importance of him on our power play and on that top line when he was able to be given a few games to get his game going."
