Detroit Red Wings: Robby Fabbri was a great trade by Steve Yzerman
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Red Wings dumped off Jacob de la Rose to the St. Louis Blues for Robby Fabbri earlier in the season; this is proving to be an excellent investment by General Manager Steve Yzerman. A change of scenery has really helped Fabbri kick it into gear with his new organization, even in its dumpster fire state.
In his first season as General Manager (GM) of the Detroit Red Wings, Steve Yzerman made a trade to acquire forward Robby Fabbri from the St. Louis Blues. Yzerman would give up forward Jacob de La Rose in the deal, for Fabbri who needed a change of scenery. Yes, the Blue were 2018-19 Stanley Cup Champions, but Fabbri was not producing as expected after injuries had kept him sidelined, and then this season, he was not cracking the lineup on a nightly basis.
Fabbri is currently sitting out on a day-to-day basis with an upper-body injury that he sustained during the Red Wings recent win over the Boston Bruins. Since coming to the Red Wings organization, Fabbri has played in forty games. Over those forty games, Fabbri has managed to score eleven goals and tally sixteen assists for twenty-seven total points for the horrific Red Wings.
In the 2019-20 season, Fabbri holds a $900 thousand cap hit towards the Red Wings payroll, which is the third-lowest among forwards on the team. He is a restricted free agent this summer when the offseason rolls around and should be an easy pickup for the Red Wings to give some money and keep him around.
More from Detroit Jock City
- Tigers Sign Manager A.J. Hinch to Long-Term Extension
- Lions vs. Bears Week 14 Opening Odds Disrespect Detroit
- Former Tigers Celebrate Jim Leyland Hall of Fame Call
- This Pistons Team Could be the Worst in Detroit Sports History
- 4 Free Agents Tigers Should Sign During Winter Meetings
If Yzerman wants to ensure that this trade remains an excellent investment, they should bring Fabbri back and allow him to get a full season under his belt with the Red Wings and hopefully take command of that second line.
With the Red Wings being a dumpster fire during this season, Fabbri needs to be kept around and not moved at the deadline. Yzerman needs to identify the substantial return on investment he has received from Fabbri so far this year and what it could amount to if the production continues as it has since the trade. It seems that Fabbri has been able to come into his own, feeling more comfortable on the Red Wings after a change of scenery to a new organization.
Sometimes all a player needs is a fresh start, and indeed, this has been the case for Fabbri here in Detroit. A rebuilding Red Wings team may take the edge off for Fabbri, who was in a position with the Blues where he needed to show success and most likely was seeing some pressure to amount to his projection as a top-six scoring forward.
The rise of Bernier and fall of Howard. light. Trending
With the Red Wings, Fabbri can focus on his own game (which he has) and work to become that top-six forward (which he has been relative to this team) without the pressures of having to produce to help the team win in dyer situations since they are racings towards a lottery pick.