Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Los Angeles Kings prospect Gabriel Vilardi of the Kingston Frontenacs is the OHL ‘On the Run’ Player of the Week for the playoff week ending April 1 scoring 10 points in three games including five goals and five assists with a plus-minus rating of plus-4.
Vilardi recorded a trio of multi-point performances last week featuring an historic triple overtime goal to lead the Frontenacs to a 4-1 first round series victory over the North Bay Battalion. With the series tied 1-1 heading into Tuesday’s Game 3 in North Bay, Vilardi scored twice including the game-winner and added an assist for second star honours in the 4-1 win. He continued his strong play in Thursday’s Game 4 triumph scoring once with two assists as third star of the 6-3 decision. The hometown hero saved his best for last in Saturday’s Game 5 finale delivering four points including the game’s first goal at 1:44 and last goal at 114:05 ending the third longest battle in OHL playoff history where he was awarded first star praise in the 6-5 home ice celebration.
An 18-year-old from Kingston, Ont., Vilardi is playing in his third OHL season and first with the Frontenacs after being acquired from the Mastercard Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires in January. The second overall pick in the 2015 OHL Priority Selection and 11th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft is currently second in playoff scoring with 12 points through five games. In 32 regular season games this season he tallied 22 goals and 36 assists for 58 points giving him the second highest points-per-game mark in the league at 1.81. The Frontenacs will open their Eastern Conference Semi-Final series on Wednesday night on the road against the Barrie Colts.
Watch video highlights of Vilardi and the Frontenacs against the Battalion in Game 3, Game 4, and Game 5.
Also considered for the award this week were Ottawa Senators prospects Logan Brown of the Kitchener Rangers and Aaron Luchuk of the Barrie Colts who both scored 10 points including two goals and eight assists. Brown’s points came in the final four games of Kitchener’s first round series win over the Guelph Storm, while Luchuk spread his production across five games in Barrie’s first round series win against the Mississauga Steelheads. In goal, newly signed Carolina Hurricanes prospect Jeremy Helvig went 3-0 for the Fronts with 105 saves for a goals-against-average of 2.32 and save percentage of .921.
2017-18 OHL ‘On the Run’ Players of the Week – Playoffs:
Mar. 26 – Apr. 1: Gabriel Vilardi (Kingston Frontenacs)
Mar. 19 – Mar. 25: Noel Hoefenmayer (Ottawa 67’s)
2017-18 OHL ‘On the Run’ Players of the Week – Regular Season:
Mar. 12 – Mar. 18: Nick Suzuki (Owen Sound Attack)
Mar. 5 – Mar. 11: Dmitry Sokolov (Barrie Colts)
Feb. 26 – Mar. 4: Robert Thomas (Hamilton Bulldogs)
Feb. 19 – Feb. 25: Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia Sting)
Feb. 12 – Feb. 18: Aaron Luchuk (Barrie Colts)
Feb. 5 – Feb. 11: Liam Foudy (London Knights)
Jan. 29 – Feb. 4: Kenny Huether (Oshawa Generals)
Jan. 22 – Jan. 28: Jeremy Helvig (Kingston Frontenacs)
Jan. 15 – Jan. 21: Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia Sting)
Jan. 8 – Jan. 14: Taylor Raddysh (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
Jan. 1 – Jan. 7: Owen Tippett (Mississauga Steelheads)
Dec. 25 – Dec. 31: Ben Jones (Niagara IceDogs)
Dec. 11 – Dec. 17: Morgan Frost (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)
Dec. 4 – Dec. 10: Justin Brazeau (North Bay Battalion)
Nov. 27 – Dec. 3: Joseph Garreffa (Kitchener Rangers)
Nov. 20 – Nov. 26: Serron Noel (Oshawa Generals)
Nov. 13 – Nov. 19: Cliff Pu (London Knights)
Nov. 6 – Nov. 12: Ryan Merkley (Guelph Storm)
Oct. 30 – Nov. 5: Albert Michnac (Mississauga Steelheads)
Oct. 23 – Oct. 29: Aaron Luchuk (Windsor Spitfires)
Oct. 16 – Oct. 22: Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia Sting)
Oct. 9 – Oct. 15: Brady Hinz (Sarnia Sting)
Oct. 2 – Oct. 8: Nick Suzuki (Owen Sound Attack)
Sept. 25 – Oct. 1: Jonathan Ang (Peterborough Petes)
Sept. 21 – Sept. 24: Michael DiPietro (Windsor Spitfires)
OHL Writers 