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Robby Fabbri

Jakub Vrana Clears Waivers

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Jan 4: The Red Wings’ gamble has paid off, as Vrana cleared waivers and has been assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins. This would actually increase Vrana’s trade value if Detroit is looking to make a move, given he can now be stashed in the minors while he gets back up to speed by any acquiring team. Fabbri has been officially activated from injured reserve to take his place.

Jan 3: The Detroit Red Wings were expected to place a player on waivers today to make room for Robby Fabbri’s return, but no one expected it to be Jakub Vrana. Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets reports that the forward, who only recently moved to the next phase of the Player Assistance Program, has been placed on waivers today.

Vrana, 26, is in the second season of a three-year, $15.75MM contract he signed with the Red Wings in 2021 after being acquired from the Washington Capitals. The 13th overall pick from 2014, he had shown an ability to score at a high level and appeared to be a core piece for the team moving forward. Since arriving in Detroit, though, Vrana has been in and out of the lineup, and has just 39 games played as a Red Wing. This season he has appeared at the NHL level just twice, recording two points.

This could be nothing more than the Red Wings, believing his contract will get him through waivers, allowing Vrana to get his game back in order at the minor league level. But even with the $5.25MM cap hit, there is at least some risk of losing him entirely. Several rebuilding clubs have the cap space necessary to fit him in, and given his relative youth and strong history in the league, it may be worth the chance.

Through 323 NHL games, Vrana has scored 98 goals and 189 points, a 25-goal, 48-point pace when expanded to a full 82-game schedule. While other teams may not have a full understanding of his current situation, it would be hard to blame them for taking a swing with a waiver claim. His contract, while expensive, does expire after next season and leave him an unrestricted free agent, meaning for a club like the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, or Arizona Coyotes, there would be the possibility of a short-term flip for more assets a year from now.

That would of course mean committing to a significant salary, though. Vrana is owed $5.75MM next season in the slightly back-loaded deal.

The Red Wings, meanwhile, have some big contract negotiations upcoming, so this is perhaps an attempt to get out from under Vrana’s deal. Dylan Larkin, Pius Suter, and Tyler Bertuzzi are all unrestricted free agents at the end of the year, with the former likely demanding a huge raise over his current $6.1MM cap hit. If Steve Yzerman no longer believes in Vrana as a core piece, he could be looking for a little financial freedom by offering him up to the rest of the league.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Injury Notes: Oshie, Fabbri, Jets

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The Washington Capitals are expected to get T.J. Oshie back in the lineup tonight, though he has been officially listed as a game-time decision. The veteran forward hasn’t played since December 17 and has just 22 appearances under his belt this season. Those have been relatively unsuccessful appearances, too, with Oshie registering just two points in the 11 games prior to the injury. He has just five goals and 11 points on the year.

Still, with Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, and Tom Wilson all returning relatively soon, the Capitals have several key veterans getting back for the second-half run. Whether that can result in legitimate Stanley Cup contention remains to be seen, but they’ve been doing just fine so far. Washington is 8-1-1 in their last ten and have closed the gap to just two points between them and the tail-spinning New Jersey Devils for second in the Metropolitan Division.

  • The Detroit Red Wings are expected to place someone on waivers today, given the imminent return of Robby Fabbri. Team reporter Daniella Bruce reports that Fabbri will be back in the lineup playing with Pius Suter and Oskar Sundqvist tomorrow when the Red Wings take on the Devils. The 26-year-old is coming off another ACL injury and will be making his season debut after scoring 17 goals and 30 points in 2021-22.
  • If it were the playoffs, Nate Schmidt, Cole Perfetti, and Nikolaj Ehlers would all be in the Winnipeg Jets lineup, according to head coach Rick Bowness, who spoke with reporters including Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun today. None of them will play, against the Calgary Flames but are on the verge of returning to the lineup. For Ehlers, a return would be his third appearance of the season and first game since October 17. Josh Morrissey, who has also missed practice recently, is expected to play.

Atlantic Notes: Vrana, Fabbri, Hollowell, Smith

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Red Wings winger Jakub Vrana will report to AHL Grand Rapids for a three-game conditioning stint, reports Max Bultman of The Athletic (Twitter link).  Vrana was recently reinstated by the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program and after skating with Detroit for a week, it appears as if he’s ready to get some game action in.  Until he’s ready to return to the NHL lineup, Vrana won’t be part of Detroit’s active roster.

Meanwhile, there could be more help on the horizon for the Red Wings as Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News reports (Twitter link) that winger Robby Fabbri could be ready to return to the lineup on January 4th.  The veteran has missed the entire season so far after undergoing knee surgery back in March.  Fabbri had 17 goals in 56 games in 2021-22 and his possible return coupled with Vrana’s could give Detroit two-thirds of a strong secondary scoring trio as they look to hang around the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Mac Hollowell from AHL Toronto on an emergency basis. It’s the fourth emergency recall for the 24-year-old in less than two weeks as the team hedges their bets with some of their injured blueliners.  Toronto had an open roster spot so no other move needed to be made to bring up Hollowell, who has two assists in six NHL games so far this season.
  • As expected, the Bruins have recalled winger Craig Smith from AHL Providence, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 33-year-old cleared waivers earlier this month and the team will likely paper him down to the minors on off days to bank a bit of cap space.  They did so over the weekend, saving a little more than $18K by doing so.  Smith has four points in 19 games for Boston so far this season.

Injury Notes: Copp, Caamano, Ostapchuk

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The Detroit Red Wings will be without Andrew Copp for training camp, announcing today that the big free agent signing underwent abdominal surgery in the offseason. Copp is expected back the first week of the regular season, when he’ll start to try and live up to the five-year, $28.125MM contract he signed this offseason.

It’s a tough start for the Red Wings, who also confirmed some timelines on other previously-reported injuries. Jake Walman will be back at some point in November, while Robby Fabbri and Mark Pysyk are out until early 2023. Chase Pearson, who made his NHL debut last season with Detroit, is away from the team indefinitely due to personal matters.

  • It was back surgery for Nicholas Caamano, according to general manager Jim Nill, who told reporters including Matthew DeFranks of the Dallas Morning News that the young forward will miss three months. Caamano, 24, played in 36 games for the Stars between 2019-2021 before spending all of last year in the minor leagues. Anton Khudobin has not yet been cleared for games but will be on the ice for training camp. The team signed Scott Wedgewood to a two-year deal this offseason after he played well down the stretch, suggesting that Khudobin is ticketed for the minor leagues once again.
  • Zack Ostapchuk, the 39th overall pick in 2021, is out a few weeks for the Ottawa Senators and will be sent back to junior after he’s healthy enough according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. That ends any possibility that he could make the team out of camp after his outstanding playoff run for the Vancouver Giants of the WHL. The 19-year-old is not yet eligible for the AHL and instead will go back and try to carry over that postseason success for an entire year.

Atlantic Notes: Fabbri, Mrazek, Harrison, Weber

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Red Wings winger Robby Fabbri is unsure if he’ll be able to return from his torn ACL in time for next season, relays Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press.  The 26-year-old underwent surgery in late March and recently was able to shed his crutches in April but as he knows from experience, it’s at least six months before he’ll have a chance at playing again.  This was the third ACL surgery of Fabbri’s career but the first on his right knee.  He will be entering the first season of a three-year, $12MM deal next season on the heels of a pretty good regular season aside from the injury as he had 17 goals and 13 assists in 56 games with Detroit last season.

More from the Atlantic:

  • The Maple Leafs have activated goaltender Petr Mrazek off LTIR, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). Mrazek suffered a groin injury in late March which pressed Erik Kallgren into duty with Jack Campbell still injured at the time.  While he didn’t dress in the second game of their series against Tampa Bay, his return to health will at least give them some extra depth between the pipes.  Mrazek had a 3.34 GAA and a .888 SV% in 20 games this season, his first with Toronto.
  • The Bruins have signed prospect center Brett Harrison to an ATO, reports Mark Divver of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). The 18-year-old was recently eliminated in the OHL playoffs, paving the way for him to play in the minors with Providence in their playoff run.  Harrison was a third-round pick of Boston last year (85th overall) and he had a strong season with OHL Oshawa, notching 27 goals and 34 assists in 65 games with the Generals.
  • In an interview with TSN 690 (audio link), TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that an insurance issue prevented the Canadiens from moving Shea Weber’s contract to Arizona at the trade deadline. He cited there was some extra paperwork that had to be completed plus a payout; with so many moving parts in the hours leading up to the deadline, they basically ran out of time.  Dreger added that he believes a Weber trade will be able to be done this summer.  He has four years left on his deal with a $7.857MM AAV but just $6MM total in remaining salary over that span.

Robby Fabbri Out Indefinitely; Could Miss Rest Of Season

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The Detroit Red Wings could be without Robby Fabbri for the rest of the year, as head coach Jeff Blashill told reporters today that the team suspects he suffered a torn ACL. While he is still undergoing further evaluation, the expectation at this point is that Fabbri will not play again this season.

In a likely related move, the Red Wings have recalled Taro Hirose from the AHL. Hirose, 25, is one of the players that will become a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer given how little opportunity he’s had at the NHL level to this point. In the minor leagues, the undrafted Michigan State star has been outstanding, with 45 points in 52 games this season. In the NHL, just one game for the Red Wings this season and 43 over parts of four years.

For Fabbri specifically, an ACL injury is the last thing anyone wants to hear. The 26-year-old forward has already undergone multiple knee surgeries in his career, which at one point threatened to derail it completely. He missed the entire 2017-18 season and played just 32 games in 2018-19, only finding his way back to top-six relevance after a trade to Detroit. Those surgeries were on his left knee, and this injury is to his right.

This season, he’d been one of the team’s most consistent players, with 17 goals and 30 points in 56 games. The fact that he’ll be sidelined with another knee injury is obviously going to once again cloud his future in the NHL. Luckily for him, he signed a three-year contract extension with the Red Wings in December–one that pays him an average salary of $4MM through 2024-25. While he’ll hopefully be able to recover in time to start next season, ACL surgery would certainly not guarantee that outcome.

Red Wings Add Two, Remove Two From COVID Protocol

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The Red Wings have lost a pair of players to COVID protocol but have also welcomed two back as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Lucas Raymond and defenseman Nick Leddy have been placed into protocol while winger Robby Fabbri and center Michael Rasmussen have both been activated and placed on the active roster.

Raymond is off to a very impressive start to his rookie season and is an early contender for the Calder Trophy after recording 10 goals and 18 assists in 31 games placing him second in scoring on Detroit behind only Dylan Larkin.  As for Leddy, he has helped to stabilize their back end, logging nearly 22 minutes per game which places him third on the team in that category.

Fabbri returns after last suiting up on December 14th which also happened to be the day that he signed a new three-year extension.  He has 14 points in 29 games this season including eight goals which puts him in the top five in that category on the Red Wings.  Meanwhile, Rasmussen has held down a regular spot in Detroit’s lineup this season, picking up 10 points in 29 games while averaging 15:28 per game, the highest ATOI of his career.

The Red Wings are scheduled to return to game action on Wednesday against the Islanders with the standard caveat that the schedule is subject to change if further COVID-related postponements are deemed necessary.

Detroit Red Wings Extend Robby Fabbri

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Ever since Robby Fabbri arrived in Detroit early in the 2019-20 season, it has been obvious that he is perfect fit with the Red Wings. Now the team has made sure that he won’t be playing anywhere else any time soon. The Red Wings have announced a three-year, $12MM contract extension with Fabbri, keeping the 25-year-old forward under contract through the 2024-25 season. Fabbri had been scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer.

Since Fabbri was acquired by Detroit from the Blues (regrettably for St. Louis in exchange for Jacob de La Rose), he is third in scoring for the club. Even more impressive is that he has accomplished this despite missing 26 games last season. Overall, Fabbri has 32 goals and 63 points in 110 games with the Red Wings. Though health has been an issue for Fabbri throughout his career, when on the ice he is an effective offensive weapon and has carved out a crucial top-six role for himself on a club looking to transition from rebuild to relevance. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Fabbri has not missed any time so far this season and Detroit has taken a major step forward, with Fabbri on pace for over 20 goals and 40 points.

Moving forward with the Wings, Fabbri will remain a part of a talented group of core forwards with room still to grow alongside Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Jakub Vrana. Detroit is projecting improvement from Fabbri with the $4MM AAV on his new deal, an improvement on his current $2.95MM, but it is easy to see Fabbri’s numbers continuing to rise if he stays healthy. Additionally, with a vast number of talented younger players either on the roster or on the way soon, this group will also be the leadership unit for the Red Wings up front, which is also contributed to the value calculation of Fabbri’s new deal. A fan favorite who plays hard and puts up points, extending Fabbri was an easy decision for GM Steve Yzerman as he continues to shape his rebuilding club for future success.

Central Notes: Teravainen, Red Wings, Reichel

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Hurricanes winger Teuvo Teravainen practiced with the team for the first time as he works his way back from a concussion that has sidelined him for all but one game over the past two months, reports Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer.  The 26-year-old is a big part of Carolina’s offense and would certainly be a huge addition for the stretch run for their battle for first in the Central Division.  Head coach Rod Brind’Amour indicated that the final call on when the winger returns will be Teravainen’s and considering this was only his first practice back, he’s likely still at least a few days away.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • The Red Wings have ruled out wingers Robby Fabbri and Evgeny Svechnikov for tonight’s game against Chicago, notes MLive’s Ansar Khan (Twitter link). Fabbri has missed more than two weeks with an upper-body injury but has resumed skating while Svechnikov was injured in Thursday’s morning skate and is listed as day-to-day.
  • Still with Detroit, prospect Joe Veleno should be recovered from the concussion that caused him to miss the final three weeks of his SHL season by the time his quarantine period is done, mentions Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News. The 21-year-old was a first-rounder of the Red Wings back in 2019 and played in 46 games with Malmo this season, recording 20 points while spending time both at center and on the wing.  While he’s reporting to AHL Grand Rapids for the time being, head coach Jeff Blashill suggested that Veleno could see some NHL action down the stretch as well.
  • The Blackhawks are hoping to bring 2020 first-round pick Lukas Reichel to North America next season, relays Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The forward had a strong season with Berlin in the DEL with 27 points in 37 regular season games with their playoffs getting underway this coming week.  As Pope notes, Chicago is stockpiling a surplus of forwards which gives them lots of depth and perhaps some chips to try to move this summer.

Snapshots: Mrazek, Fabbri, Gudbranson, Hinostroza, Bowness

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The Hurricanes got a key part of their lineup back tonight with the announcement that Petr Mrazek was getting the start tonight against Dallas.  The veteran had missed the last 31 games due to a right thumb injury after entering the season as the expected starting goaltender.  Carolina more than held their own with James Reimer and Alex Nedeljkovic splitting time in Mrazek’s absence and with the latter now once again being waiver-eligible, they will be forced to carry three goalies the rest of the way as it’s highly doubtful he’d go unclaimed again.  Last month, GM Don Waddell indicated that he’s open to moving one of his three netminders and a good showing from Mrazek over these next couple of appearances may go a long way towards determining whether or not that happens.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Red Wings winger Robby Fabbri missed today’s game due to an undisclosed injury. Following the contest, head coach Jeff Blashill told reporters, including MLive’s Ansar Khan (Twitter link), that the 25-year-old is listed as day-to-day and they expect to know more about the extent of the injury on Tuesday.  Fabbri sits third on Detroit in scoring with ten goals and eight assists in 30 games.
  • Senators defenseman Erik Gudbranson did not accompany the team on their trip to Winnipeg, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The veteran returned to Ottawa to be with his wife who is expected to give birth to their first child in the next few days.  Gudbranson has played in 34 games this season, picking up a goal and two assists.
  • Blackhawks center Vinnie Hinostroza opted to make the 20-hour drive from Florida to Chicago to reduce his required quarantine tine, notes Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. The 27-year-old was acquired from the Panthers this week after having a limited role in Florida where he played in just nine games.  Hinostroza isn’t on the CPRA list yet but should be on there once he makes it to his hotel room in Chicago to begin serving his quarantine period.
  • Stars head coach Rick Bowness was pulled from their game against Carolina after the second period due to COVID-19 protocols, the team announced (Twitter link). Assistant coach John Stevens served as acting head coach for the rest of the game.

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