The Blue Jackets have signed defenseman Dante Fabbro to a four-year, $16.5MM extension to keep him from becoming a free agent on Tuesday, the team announced. The deal will carry a cap hit of $4.125MM. Fabbro receives a no-trade clause for 2025-26 as part of the deal, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports. His deal is paid entirely in base salary aside from a $1MM up-front signing bonus, per PuckPedia. His full no-trade clause drops to a 10-team NTC for 2026-27 and 2027-28 and again to a five-time NTC in 2028-29.
It’s a major bit of business for Columbus, and the expected outcome after FanDuel Sports Network’s Andy Strickland reported earlier this month that a long-term deal was on the horizon. Fabbro was one of two top-four defenders for them who could have hit the open market alongside Ivan Provorov. He was the No. 16 UFA on our Top 50 board and the third-highest-ranked right-shot defenseman behind Aaron Ekblad and Brent Burns.
While Provorov’s future remains uncertain, the Jackets will at least keep their top pairing intact heading into next season. It’s also a remarkable turnaround for Fabbro, who goes from waiver claim to a well-compensated top-four piece in a matter of months. The first-round pick of the Predators in 2016 had fallen out of a regular spot in their lineup at the beginning of this past season, going pointless in six games before landing on the wire in early November.
Columbus picked him up as a replacement for veteran d-man Erik Gudbranson, who needed early-season shoulder surgery and was going to miss most of the campaign. They experimented with Fabbro in top-pairing duties alongside star Zach Werenski and never looked back. Fabbro remained stapled to Werenski’s side for the remainder of the year, posting a career-high 26 points and +23 rating in 62 games for the Jackets while averaging 21:39 per game.
The Blue Jackets, already armed with plenty of spending flexibility, now have their top pairing locked in for the next three seasons, the remaining term on Werenski’s deal, for a quite reasonable $13.71MM combined cap hit. There’s no reason to believe Fabbro will get separated from Werenski anytime soon – he excelled in a support role, and only five pairings in the league spent more time together than they did (1,009 minutes) despite Fabbro spending the first few weeks of the year in Nashville.
Columbus GM Don Waddell called Fabbro’s extension a “priority” in the team’s announcement. The 27-year-old will now spend his peak years in Columbus on a deal that he could have likely beaten to some degree on the open market, and he’ll have the opportunity to be compensated again at age 31 in 2029. Their attention now turns to either re-upping Provorov or finding a replacement, either on the open market or via trade, to serve as their No. 2 lefty behind Werenski. They could also look to elevate 2022 first-rounder Denton Mateychuk into that role – he already spent a lot of time with Provorov in 2024-25.
The Jackets still have $28.53MM in cap space after signing Fabbro, according to PuckPedia. They still need new deals for pending RFAs Dmitri Voronkov and Jordan Harris, although the latter could be a non-tender candidate.
Darren Dreger of TSN was first to report Fabbro’s extension.
Image courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.
This gonna be Forsling all over again isn’t it
If I was a Preds fan in 2025, I would probably be crying myself to sleep in the fetal position.
He just wasn’t good here. Lots of chances on a Nashville team that knows how to develop Defenseman, I’m sure he’ll be ok for you there with emphasis on ok, never great. Nice guy for sure. No sandpaper to his game. Sure miss being in the same Division as Columbus! Those were the days.
I guess the rest of the league could say must be hard on Columbus watching their Goalie win back to back Cups!
After the latest draft, most Preds fans are in that fetal position. :/
Truth be told, the Preds haven’t developed any top Dmen in quite awhile. But we have moved a few who seem to be doing well elsewhere (some for free like Fabbro!).
The problems run deep in Music City.
Gbear will have a Brady Martin jersey in no time.
Unlikey, though nothing against the kid. Maybe a Teddy Stiga jersey someday. :)
Relax on the prognostications there, homeboy. The Preds were not the place for Fabbro. Glad to see him fitting in with your club.
The Preds don’t need Fabbro, but rather a coach whose “plan” does not get in the way of his veterans’ strengths and styles of play. We need to fire Brunette and then you can watch the Music come back to Nashville.
Well played. I am a Preds fan and agree with all you stated on your post.
One addition: Brunette is unwilling to change from his “fast attack” plan that worked his first year when the Preds had young speedsters. He couldn’t/wouldn’t revise his plan to accommodate his powerful but slower veteran core (Stamkos, Marchessault, Forsberg, Skeij, Josi, etc.) In fact, Brunette’s fossilized stubbornness is what had Marchessault looking for a deal out.
Look for Brunette gone by January. Gallant is available–THAT is a real coach.
Get your glasses cleaned, brother. The Preds drafted quite well.
The problem is the coach. Brunette’s “system” fit his young speedsters during the 2023-24 season. Then, the Preds lineup changed to a more powerful and mature club–slower but more talent-laden. Brunette is too blind to have seen the change and stuck to his confusing speed/attack plan. Just listen to Marchessault, who was so frustrated he was open to ignoring his own negotiated no-trade clause.
Martin, along with the other Preds picks, will do well. I don’t know why I see all the complaints by others (supposedly they should have a clue, right?). Imagine these commenters at Thanksgiving dinner. They would pick on Grandma’s turkey.
well when you have what people consider was the best available option still available at 5 and instead you pick a guy who works hard but has less talent… of course were going to be upset… we’ve never had an actual #1 Center and Martin more than likely won’t be that either. his ceiling from what the experts say is a #2 Center… Hagens has the ceiling of an elite center but a lower floor too so its kinda dammed if you do dammed it you dont deal. I think we should have just due to the ceiling of the guy we passed on
PredFan says other fans don’t have a clue as to how these latest picks will pan out and then proceeds to claim the knowledge to know that they will do great. Superior hockey brain I suppose.
Some advice: when making 4 posts in a row, identify who you’re responding to.
. Geez, GBEAR, are you one of those wannabe online tough guys sitting in Mom’s basement?
. I comment on how I don’t see why so many complaints got posted about ‘my’ team’s picks, then I go positive on Martin and other Preds picks–and you take offense. You are too sensitive to play the game, GBEAR.
. And, if four posts confuse you, learn to read the intent. It will ‘reveal’ to whom a writer responds. Okay, GBEAR?? (Did I identify you enough NOW?)
. Donovan, the Hagens signing would give the Predators a Tavares Effect–a good to great player who would always deep down have a yearning to go home. Tavares developed on Long Island and then left the Islanders for his hometown Toronto as soon as his contract allowed. He’s even recently signed a lower contract to stay home in Toronto.
. Hagens needed to get home to Long Island or, second, stay in his college city of Boston. It is what it is. I like the Martin pick.
. I LOVE The Hague pick up (BIGGER than even Lauzon and a lot younger than Sissons).
PredFan accuses others of living in their moms basement and proceeds to act like someone living in their moms basement.
Another one to put on mute.
PredFan – I get that fans are gonna cope and tell themselves every choice their team makes is good, and you have that liberty. But please don’t resort to crude insults and disparagements when someone wants to discuss counterpoints.
. PyramidHeadcrab, you sound civil and serious, so thank you for that.
. I believe you might not have followed the string that shows a certain other person disparaging the picks of, and the team in Nashville.
. Your concern about crude remarks is valid and I share that position–I just hope you read the sequence in a way that helps you see the smart-butt comments started elsewhere.
. Thanks for reading this.
. GBear, read your comments and reflect upon your posturing before you go to battle. Disagree with those who criticize the Nashville ways? Yes–that’s what I did–I disagreed. You chose a thin-skinned path after that, so own it.
Oh this rules so hard. CBJ’s top pairing is locked in. Bottom 3 needs some work, but that’s honestly a good problem to have. 6/7 guys are easier to find than 1/2.
That seems to be a good deal for Columbus. I was thinking as RHD option he’d get over 5.5 in this market.
Assumption is he left (possibly) money on the table for a comfort level. If he out performs or even performs to the contract, he will get his payday in 4 years. Even if he falls to the 3rd pairing in years 3/4 it’s still great value for the Jackets.
Columbus getting Dante Fabbro signed to a fair deal of $4.1 AAV for 4 years but also keeping that first line combo of Fabbro with elite offensive defenseman Zach Werenski is a smart move by GM Don Waddell.