Alex Iafallo Ready for First Line Minutes

Although initially expected to fill a middle-six winger role, first-year Winnipeg Jets forward Alex Iafallo has seen his name etched into Winnipeg's top line for Tuesday night's contest against St. Louis.

With the Blues in town, Iafallo will suit up alongside Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, as the Jets' game of musical chairs continues while coaching staff determines the appropriate winger to fill the shoes left behind by injured forward Gabe Vilardi.

“It’s been a great opportunity here for me," Iafallo said. "I’m just trying to take it in as much as I can. I’m just trying to help the team win, really. They have done a great job of giving us all the information. Especially me, just coming in and doing a lot of video with them and going over all the systems stuff. It was easy for me to understand all of that.” 

Iafallo, who got a taste of the top line in Edmonton on Saturday night, will look to hold down the spot for the duration of Tuesday's divisional matchup.

"It was good," he said of Saturday's change-up that saw him finish the game with Scheifele and Connor. "They were pretty agile at moving pucks down low there, so it was just trying to get open, find some spots and get the puck to them. They are fast, so it’s just about keeping up and pushing the pace.”

It's not like the combination of Scheifele and Connor is brand new to Iafallo either, as he has spent the entire first two weeks of the season paired alongside those two and Josh Morrissey on the team's top power play unit. 

It's safe to say that Iafallo has picked up on some of the tendencies of the two all-star forwards.

“I think it’s a lot of communication maybe, before," he shared of Scheifele and Connor. "They talk a lot on the bench to me, or just before face-offs. It just kind of helps you learn where they’re going to be. They are really good players, so you just need to get your timing down.”

In recent memory, it was a combination of two other players that Iafallo has had experience with who have stepped in and filled the void up-top, but this time it is his opportunity to lose. 

First, it was Iafallo's former Kings teammate Rasmus Kupari who was immediately thrust into action as Vilardi went down injured. Then, it was his recent third line running mate Mason Appleton who was given a shot.

"I just try to adapt, honestly," Iafallo said. "Wherever I can help out, or wherever I am placed, I just try to be a part of that line. If you have an identity to that line, then it’s about adapting and it’s successful. Any line, I just try to pitch in as much as I can.”

But for now, it appears as though the 29-year-old New York product will have his shot at cementing a place alongside two the Jets' very best players. 

In five games so far this season, Iafallo has three goals and four points.