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Core Series: Has Robby Fabbri Done Enough in Detroit?

By John Manzo

COLUMBUS, OH - FEBRUARY 7: Robby Fabbri #14 of the Detroit Red Wings controls the puck during the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on February 7, 2020 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - FEBRUARY 7: Robby Fabbri #14 of the Detroit Red Wings controls the puck during the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on February 7, 2020 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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Detroit Red Wings forward Robby Fabbri has been a nice offensive addition since being traded from St. Louis in 2019, but is he part of the long-term core?

Forward Robby Fabbri has a game I like.

Since his days in St. Louis, he’s been a name I’ve noticed as someone who plays the game the right way. He’s a good teammate, hard worker and most importantly for the Detroit Red Wings, a scorer.

General manager Steve Yzerman traded for Fabbri in Nov. 2019 in exchange for forward Jacob de La Rose, and it has been a beauty of a move for the team.

Fabbri has 14 goals and 17 assists in 51 games for the Red Wings this season while de la Rose has been extremely disappointing for the Blues. He has one goal, four assists and a minus-1 rating in 34 games. He was statistically better in Detroit with a goal and three assists in about half the games.

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Enough about de la Rose, though. He’s off the team and Yzerman has a new prize in Fabbri on the roster.

In his first 16 games with the Red Wings, Fabbri netted eight goals. He’s showcasing the offensive touch this team so desperately needs and is only 24 years old.

He’s currently on an affordable $900,000 deal set to expire at the end of the season, making him a restricted free agent (RFA). Will Yzerman re-sign Fabbri and at what cost?

Fabbri has already had two anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, but is putting up numbers on par to Red Wings fans’ old friend Gustav Nyquist, who has 15 goals and 27 assists for the Columbus Blue Jackets. For perspective, he’s being paid $5.5M through the 2021-22 season.

Is Fabbri worth that much and does Yzerman make him part of the core? I think there’s a fine line. Yzerman should aim for a shorter-term deal in the $3M-$4M range and let Fabbri showcase some durability, but if Fabbri adn agent Mark Guy want more years at a reasonable amount of money, I’m taking that, too.

Fabbri isn’t a fluke.

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