Winnipeg’s Gabriel Vilardi is one of three Jets forwards poised to breakout while entering the final year of their contract

The Jets have a slew of players that will be entering a contract year next season and will look to make a case for a pay raise. It will be the teams first full season with Scott Arniel as bench boss and should make some players motivated to show their new coach what they have to offer. 

We look to examine which players are entering this season will make the most impact due to these impending factors. 

Gabriel Vilardi

After being acquired in the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade, Vilardi has become an impact player for the Jets. The 24-year-old scored 23 goals along with recording 18 assists for 41 points in 63 games with the Kings during the 2022-23 season. 

When moving to Winnipeg, his point-per-game average jumped from 0.65 to 0.77 as he recorded 22 goals and 14 assists for 36 points in a limited 47 games due to a enlarged spleen as well as a upper-body injury. 

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Based off current projections, he has secured himself a position on the teams top line and will get to play with stars in Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. The added motivation of the contract year coupled with playing time alongside NHL stars makes Vilardi the best breakout candidate on the Jets next season. 

He is at a modest $3.44 Million cap hit that favours the Jets greatly and should motivate Vilardi to push for a massive pay raise into a pay range around our next player. 

Nikolaj Ehlers 

While being at the center of many trade rumors, Ehlers looks poised to make a big impact and get paid. He enters the final season of his seven-year pact that he signed all the way back in 2018 with a very team-friendly $6 Million cap hit. 

He may be one of the rare players to play out the entire duration of a long-term contract with one team and the 29-year-old has expressed interest numerous times in staying with the Jets. 

The Danish winger will need to show his worth if he wants to stay and should as he is coming off a solid 61-point campaign, which was his second-highest point total of his career. 

Unlike Vilardi, Ehlers has less favourable linemates that he is projected to play with as his centre looks to be Vladislav Namestnikov and his opposite wing is still up in the air but is currently occupied by restricted free agent Cole Perfetti. 

Perfetti has much to prove and could burst onto the scene after signing a new deal. He will likely be the biggest factor in Ehlers’ breakout and time will tell if Perfetti and the Jets can agree on a new deal. 

Alex Iafallo

The Eden, New York native has more to prove than people may believe. As he enters the fourth year of his current deal, Iafallo may find himself in a tough spot when it comes to his future after next season. 

He is an older 30 years old and will look to play well enough that he could possibly earn some term. He has been a very consistent 30-40 point player and hitting that mark in five of his last six seasons. 

Last year was a down season for Iafallo as he finished with just 11 goals and 16 assists for 27 points and mirrored his rookie season from the 2017-18 season. 

He also finds himself in the precarious position of being slated in the bottom six of the team and won’t be able to make plays so easily. Iafallo is projected to play alongside Morgan Barron and David Gustafsson which is significantly less favourable than his pairing with Scheifele and Connor last season. 

The best case scenario for him is that he hits another gear and works his way into a more favourable position in the lineup and continues that into a career-best season.