As the final month without NHL hockey begins on Friday, the Jets off-season approaches an important moment tomorrow afternoon. Dylan Samberg is one of the few restricted free agents this season to be headed to arbitration. Make sure to check back here tomorrow to see how his next contract is settled, because it’ll be another big checkmark in the Jets organization before training camp begins. A returning “series” starting today at JetsNation is the season goals and expectations for the key members of Jets roster in the 2025-26 season. Up first is the Jets 1st line winger who is the “fortunate guy” that completes the trio with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor: Gabriel Vilardi.

The 2024-25 season was a big success for Vilardi. Despite getting outshined by other Jets players who had great seasons, such as his linemates Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi had himself his best NHL season yet. In 71 games, Vilardi scored 27 goals and added 34 assists for 61 points, all of which were career highs. Looking back at my season prediction for Gabriel Vilardi for 2024-25, I was actually pretty close, as I predicted that Vilardi would score 30 goals and 28 assists for 58 points. Drafted 11th overall in the 2017 NHL draft, Vilardi will very likely reach the 100 goal and 100 assist milestones in the first half of the 2025-26 season.

Vilardi finished 4th in Jets team scoring, and he was an important part of the Jets top forward line. Each player on the 1st line excelled at their own strengths, and that’s why Vilardi was able to have the success he did. Staying healthy has always been a concern for Vilardi in his NHL career, but this year he only missed 11 regular season games and 4 playoff games.

The next “step” for Vilardi would be to have a 75+ game season, which seems possible if his prior injuries don’t alter his current style of play. With all of that in mind, what would a “meeting expectations”, “exceeding expectations” and “below expectations” season look like for Vilardi in the 2025-26 season?

The bar has been raised for Vilardi after setting a new career high in points (61) last season. 24 goals is Vilardi’s goal average over the last 3 seasons, including his first season with the Jets where he scored 22 goals in just 47 games. Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele should both be expected to have 80+ point seasons, and some of their assists will be to Vilardi off the rush or on the powerplay. The same can be said with Vilardi racking up the assists needed to help him reach 60 points by way of Scheifele and Connor goals.

I strongly believe this will be the season Vilardi reaches 30 goals in a season for the first time in his career, but 35 isn’t entirely out of the question. Reaching 35 goals would certainly be exceeding expectations for Vilardi, and more goals for him would mean less for his linemates Scheifele and Connor. The dynamic Jets powerplay could be where Vilardi picks up those extra goals and points, and it would truly be a “breakout” year for Vilardi if he were to reach a 35 goals, 40 assists, 75 points statline.

The big question people always have when a team has an incredible regular season like the Jets did last season is “can they repeat that success”? Replicating a team’s success in wins is one thing, but sometimes player’s stats take a dip following a year where a handful of players reach career highs. Vilardi has been a consistent goal scorer throughout his career, meaning there’s little to no chance he’s going to completely “fall off” next season. Having the Jets two best forwards on the ice when he’s on the ice should help Vilardi get a minimum of 20 goals. If Vilardi has a “bad season”, it should result in a slight fall from his 2024-25 career high 61 point season.

While Vilardi isn’t the type of player you will see winning awards at the end of the season, he’s still an elite talent that rounds out the Jets top line. Here are some goals for Gabriel Vilardi in the 2025-26 season:

Fans should now be familiar with Vilardi’s game, and it will be exciting to see how he plays following his first near full NHL season. I can’t reiterate it enough that the Jets trio of Connor, Scheifele and Vilardi is a top 10 (maybe even top 5) line in the NHL, and that means the talent is all around him. My personal prediction for Vilardi in the 2025-26 season (assuming he plays in 70+ games) is 31 goals and 35 assists for a career high 66 point season.

What are your expectations for the 2025-26 season from the soon to be 26-year old Canadian centre turned winger?