It doesn't seem like the Predators gave Fabbro the right opportunity to succeed.
The Nashville Predators gave up on Dante Fabbro this season and it has already come back to haunt them like so many others.
The 25-year-old was only dressed for six of the Predators' games in the first month of the season before getting placed on waivers. The Columbus Blue Jackets claimed him and not only did Fabbro's season, but career, completely turned around.
Fabbro had averaged 13 minutes per game through his six games with Nashville this season, had no points, was a -3, had seven shots, seven blocked shots, and one hit. He seemingly became a new player and was rejuvenated once Columbus claimed him and entered him right into their lineup.
The former Predators d-man now has three goals and six points in nine games with the Blue Jackets. He has recorded a point in six of the nine games and is an incredible +14 in that time. The only game he wasn't at least +1 was in his first game with his new team (he was even).
Fabbro might not be shooting a ton more in Columbus, but with three goals on 13 shots, his shooting % is up to 23.1%. While he only delivered one hit in Nashville through six games, something clicked and his physical nature came out. He has at least one hit in eight of the nine games, only failing to record one in his most recent game in Chicago where he made up for it by scoring a goal.
Fabbro has 18 blocked shots in the past six games, so he is also impacting that aspect of the game more than he did in Nashville. Part of this is more ice time overall, but also some time on the penalty kill. He didn't play even one game with over 16 minutes of ice time with the Predators this season. He has only played two games under 22 minutes with the Blue Jackets, and both those outings came in the first two games where there was a feeling out process.
The Predators lost a top-4 defenseman who can play the right side while that is exactly what they are looking to add. It isn't a good look, especially when assets will be wasted if Nashville goes out and acquires someone to fill that void as they had homegrown talent that is proving he can play the part elsewhere.
Nashville has to stop giving up on players too early. It has become a trend that isn't helping the organization out, especially given the team's spot at the bottom of the standings.
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