Gabriel Vilardi

It's been a rough go of it for Vilardi. He's struggled to stay healthy and when he has been in the lineup recently, he hasn't produced. In 25 games with Los Angeles last season, he posted just five goals and two assists. He's been passed on the depth chart by the likes of Quinton Byfield and Arthur Kaliyev, making it difficult to rely on Vilardi from a fantasy perspective in both the short and long term. Toss in the injury risk and this is a situation that should be avoided.

Vilardi is one of the most talented offensive prospects in the game and there was never a doubt he would develop into a productive NHL player as long as he remained healthy. Vilardi has dealt with significant back issues over the years, but he somehow managed to play 54 of LA's 56 games in 2020-21, a massive win for both team and player. Vilardi finished the season with 10 goals and 23 points, perfectly reasonable numbers for a kid who played the entire year at age 20. Vilardi remains a significant injury risk and he's unlikely to be of much use in re-draft leagues in 2021-22, but Vilardi makes for a strong hold in all keeper/dynasty formats.

The 11th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Vilardi has battled back injuries over the last few years that threatened to short-circuit his development. He did, however, get healthy in 2019-2, scoring 25 points in 32 games in the AHL before earning a promotion to the Kings that saw him set an NHL record for the fastest goal to begin a career after he wired a wrister past Sergei Bobrovsky just 10 seconds into his first shift. That highlighted Vilardi's best asset as a player -- he's a pure sniper, possessing a lightning-fast trigger and an array of shots he can deploy, and while his scouting reports when drafted suggested he was a bit one-dimensional, he showed some other skills after his promotion, including at the faceoff dot. He finished the season with three goals and seven points in 10 games for Los Angeles, but an underwater CorsiFor (47.7%) in that small sample points to the need for further work to round out his game. Still only 21 years old, Vilardi will get first crack at the second-line center role in camp, and his marksmanship could make him a fixture on the power play right out of the gate.

The Kings' top pick in the 2017 draft, and 11th overall, Vilardi saw his development stalled last year by back issues that limited him to only four games at the AHL level. The 19-year-old has things he needs to work on, too. Despite a lethal shot and quick trigger that allowed him to rack up 68 goals in 143 games in junior, Vilardi's skating and footwork aren't quite at the NHL level yet, and his overall hockey IQ could use a little polishing as well. If he can get healthy and back on track, he's got the ceiling to be a top-six forward and power-play stalwart who challenges for 30 goals every season, but his back injury will remain a big cloud over his future until he's able to prove he's out from under it.

Vilardi seemed destined to challenge for an entry-level contract after being taken 11th overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, but a back injury resulted in him returning to OHL Kingston when he returned to full health.The talented pivot returned to the ice with a vengeance, racking up 58 points -- 22 goals and 36 assists -- over 32 contests. The production earned him an entry-level contract this offseason and while he skipped World Juniors due to another back issue, he's expected to be ready to compete in training camp. While it's slightly concerning that back problems have surfaced multiple times, if he can put the issues behind him, Vilardi could have an outside chance at cracking the Opening Night roster. Most likely, however, he will spend most of 2018-19 in the AHL.