The Detroit Red Wings are off to a great start to the 2025-26 season, but for some reason, many of us are bracing for a letdown.
If you recall, the Red Wings have endured a trend in years past: starting the season strong, only to struggle in December, rebounding in January/February, and completely falling apart in March. Well, this team will look to buck that trend.
The Detroit Red Wings currently sit second in a tight Atlantic Division with 27 points, backed by a 13-9-1 record; a mere one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning. One significant difference between this season and the past couple in Detroit is the organization's willingness to embrace its youth.
Detroit is fielding a plethora of young skaters this season, who are blending nicely with its veteran players. With that method comes growing pains, and we've witnessed plenty over the first quarter of the season, particularly on the backend.
The Red Wings are allowing the likes of Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Albert Johansson, and newcomer Jacob Bernard-Docker to take their lumps (at times). It's the only way these young players will learn and continue to develop at the NHL level. The Red Wings currently rank 23rd with 74 goals against despite an above-average penalty kill of 81.25%.
General manager Steve Yzerman certainly hoped the addition of goaltender John Gibson would help mask some of Detroit's defensive deficiencies, but that hasn't been the case. Gibson needs to improve quickly, but the team also needs to perform better in front of him. It appears Detroit plays a bit better collectively when Cam Talbot starts, and that is a growing concern. Is that a fluke, or is there more to that narrative?
Another area Detroit needs to improve in is its depth scoring. Detroit is getting a ton of production from its top line of Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond, and Dylan Larkin. The trio has accounted for 31 goals and 74 points. The rest of the team has combined for 36 goals and 108 points, which includes Emmitt Finnie (5G, 11P) and Patrick Kane (3G, 12P). A reunion with a former Red Wing might help balance the lineup.
The Detroit Red Wings need to consider a reunion with Robby Fabbri
It's not a flashy move, but a reunion with veteran forward Robby Fabbri is the kind of low-risk, high-reward transaction Yzerman is usually attracted to.
Fabbri, 29, a Mississauga, Ontario, Canada native, is a free agent currently skating with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The veteran forward most recently had been with the Pittsburgh Penguins on a Personal Tryout (PTO) entering training camp this past summer, but failed to earn a spot on the squad.
Fabbri is just two years removed from an 18-goal season with the Red Wings. Last season, Fabbri appeared in 44 games with the Anaheim Ducks, recording eight goals and 16 points.
The risk with Fabbri is obvious; he's suffered three, count them, three ACL tears over his career. He's torn his left knee twice, and his right once. That said, if the Red Wings were able to bring him in on a one-year vet minimum deal, it might be worth the risk.
Fabbri, by all accounts, had always been a popular locker room guy, and he might just be able to provide the Red Wings with some much-needed depth scoring among their bottom-six, plus he's proved capable of working on both the power play and penalty kill units in the past.
If you are wondering where or who a player like Fabbri might be able to unseat, you start with a guy like Elmer Soderblom. The towering forward had been hampered by injury to start this season, which has limited him to just 11 games.
That said, Soderblom has only recorded one goal during that span. Another option is veteran James van Riemsdyk, who's notched just two goals and three points over 18 games this season. Others who've been underperforming offensively to begin the season are Marco Kasper (3 goals, 0 assists), and Michael Rasmussen (2 goals, 3 assists).