Versatile Jets forward Alex Iafallo ready to lend a hand on and off the ice

Alex Iafallo is always willing to lend a helping hand — on and off the ice.

The Winnipeg Jets forward has moved up and down the lineup this season without a complaint.

He also signed a three-year contract extension before the NHL playoffs for less money than his previous deal.

And during the COVID-19 pandemic, Iafallo bought and delivered dinners for his mom and dozens of her nurse co-workers at the Buffalo General Medical Center. 

“I think everybody has it in them, just got to do it,” Iafallo said of his helpful nature in a recent interview.

The 31-year-old from Eden, N.Y., might soon have to be unselfish again as the Jets head to St. Louis for Game 3 Thursday in the Western Conference opening-round series they lead 2-0.

Iafallo was moved to Winnipeg’s top line from the fourth after Gabriel Vilardi was injured March 23. He’s complemented left-winger Kyle Connor and centre Mark Schiefele, but Vilardi is getting close to returning. 

Vilardi practised with the team again Wednesday in a yellow non-contact jersey. He has to practise in a regular jersey before he’ll be available for real action. Game 4 is Sunday. 

Iafallo is ready to adapt to any change in his role.

“I’ll take it like it comes, just like I always have,” he said. “Playoffs, it’s do or die. It’s the best time of the year, so be ready to go on whatever line you’re playing with.”

Often described as a “Swiss Army knife” for his versatility, it’s a reputation Iafallo has taken pride in since the Los Angeles Kings took a chance on the undrafted winger and signed him in 2017-18.

His hockey career was put on pause in the spring of 2020 when the league shut down because of the pandemic.

Iafallo packed up and drove across the United States to stay with his parents, Barb and Tom, and sister Julianna, a former women’s professional hockey player.

Watching his mom work long hours on a unit for patients with COVID-19 made him want to help out.

Iafallo got the go-ahead to bring dinner for the staff one evening. After buying chicken parmesan from a local restaurant, he set off with his truck’s heaters cranked up.

“It was a 30-minute drive so I just kept (the order) on the floor where the heaters all come out,” he said.

By the time he arrived, he was hot and had to have his temperature taken before he could enter the building. It barely registered under the required threshold, he recalled with a smile.

His mom met him and he helped load the dinners on a cart she took upstairs to her unit.

“They were working hard at a tough time. I wanted to give back,” Iafallo said, adding his mother still works at the hospital. “I appreciate everything that they do, nurses and everybody in that whole field.”

He’s also been helping out in the Winnipeg community since being traded to the Jets from the Kings in June 2023. He was part of the Pierre-Luc Dubois deal that also brought Vilardi and Rasmus Kapari to Manitoba.

Through the team’s True North Youth Foundation, Iafallo and teammate Nino Niederreiter have coached young hockey players.

His all-round positive experience is why he chose to re-sign with the Jets instead of becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer.

When his new $11-million deal kicks in next season, he’ll earn an average annual salary of $3.66 million. His current contract pays him $4 million per season.

“It’s such a great team. I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Iafallo told reporters when the deal was announced April 16. “I was going to accept under what I was worth, or whatever it was.

“It’s a great contract for me and I’m loving it, so it’s going to be a great three years.”

Iafallo finished the regular season with 15 goals and 31 points in 82 games. In his final 11 games on the top line, he scored four goals and added three assists. He has one goal through two playoff games.

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