The Anaheim Ducks announced Wednesday afternoon they've acquired forward Robby Fabbri from the Detroit Red Wings.
The Anaheim Ducks announced Wednesday afternoon they've acquired forward Robby Fabbri from the Detroit Red Wings.
Though day one of NHL free agency was quiet for the Anaheim Ducks, they've made a pair of trades in the last two days that didn't cost significant assets or hamper their long-term roster outlook.
The latest move came on Wednesday afternoon when Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek sent goaltending prospect Gage Alexander (22) to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for forward Robby Fabbri (28) and a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick.
The conditions on the pick dictate the Ducks will receive the earlier of Detroit’s 2025 4th round pick or Boston's 2025 4th round pick.
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The Ducks have a brimming goaltending pipeline that includes the likes of Lukas Dostal (24), Calle Clang (22), Tomas Suchanek (21), Damian Clara (19), and Vyacheslav Buteyets (22). They leveraged that area of strength to address an area of weakness, depth scoring.
“Robby is a grit and sandpaper type of player that plays with energy and fits with what we are trying to do," Verbeek said of the newly acquired Fabbri. "He also possesses a nice combination of skill and scoring ability that we need.”
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Originally drafted by the St. Louis Blues (21st overall in 2014), Fabbri was traded to the Red Wings in Nov. of 2019. At the time, Verbeek was in his first year as assistant general manager in Detroit.
Upon arrival in Detroit, Fabbri made an immediate impact, scoring 31 points in 52 games. In his five seasons as a Red Wing, he played up and down the lineup and had been a fixture on one of their two power play units.
In his eight seasons as a full time NHL player, he's totaled 98 goals and 200 points in 398 games.
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Injuries have plagued Fabbri throughout his career. He's torn his ACL three times, twice in his right knee and once in his left. He missed the entire 2017-18 season and he's missed 120 games in the last four seasons.
When Fabbri is in the lineup, he produces at the rate of a quality middle-six forward, displaying skill and tenacity. Fabbri should fit seamlessly into the play-style and systems Greg Cronin has introduced to the Ducks when he was hired before the 2023-24 season. He is a relentless forechecker, protects pucks well for someone with his frame (5-foot-11, 185 pounds), and gets pucks to the middle of the ice for dangerous looks.
In 2023-24, Fabbri scored 18 goals and 31 points while averaging 12:52 TOI in 68 games and played on the Red Wings second power play unit, totaling 139 minutes and chipping in five goals.
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Fabbri has one year remaining on his three-year contract that carries an AAV of $4 million.
At various points over the past six months, Verbeek had stated his intention to add a top-six forward, a top-four defenseman, and improve the production of the bottom-six forward group. Though he stated to prefer right-shots, he's delivered on two of those three intentions just three days into free agency.
There's plenty of time to continue adding to the roster before the start of the regular season, and if there aren't significant moves to be made, the team is in a much better spot both long-term and short-term than they were on June 30.
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