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Robby Fabbri

Unfortunate Extensions: Jake Allen & Petr Mrazek

January 29, 2017 at 10:41 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 4 Comments

When the St. Louis Blues went into this offseason, they had a problem. Some may call it a good problem, but it was an issue all the same; what to do with the tandem of Brian Elliott and Jake Allen? The team had gone to the Conference Finals for the first time in 15 years, and did it on the back of two outstanding seasons from their pair of netminders. Allen had a .920 save percentage in 44 starts, while Elliott carried a .930 mark through his 38 starts and continued his dominance into the playoffs, essentially moving Allen to the bench.

But when the summer came, the team decided it was time to move on from one of them and traded Elliott to the Calgary Flames. With just a year left on each goalie’s deal, the Blues wanted to get ahead of the controversy and establish Allen as their true franchise netminder. They signed him to a four-year, $17.4MM extension on the first day of free agency, locking him in long-term as their starter. After all, he was coming off the best season of his career and was still just 25-years old.

That decision hasn’t turned out too well for the Blues, who last week sent Allen away from the team, not even bringing him on a road trip to Winnipeg. Allen is sporting a .897 save percentage through the first half of the season, easily a career low for him. While some of that is a much weaker team in front of him defensively, not all of the blame can removed from his shoulders. He simply hasn’t been good enough for the Blues, and now it comes time to wonder about the decision to extend him in the summer.

With a $4.35MM cap-hit going forward, it’s not like the Blues will be completely hamstrung by his deal. There is room to get a quality veteran to split the season with him like Florida is doing with Roberto Luongo and James Reimer, but it is far from ideal. A team that has pending unrestricted free agents in Kevin Shattenkirk and Patrik Berglund, along with big RFA deals with Robby Fabbri and Colton Parayko looming in the next couple of seasons, needs their cap space used in effective manners. A long-term extension for a struggling goalie is not that.

In Detroit, a similar goaltender situation played out last year when Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard split the duties and pushed a underwhelming team into the playoffs. While Howard struggled during parts of the season and in the playoffs, Mrazek looked like a lock as a starting goaltender and perhaps even all-star going forward. The Wings were locked into Howard for another three seasons, but looked like they wanted to give the number one job to Mrazek after his great stretch run.

The team likely shopped the veteran Howard around but found no takers, and eventually decided on just a two-year deal with Mrazek when it came to free agency. Had they been able to find a taker for Howard and his $5.3MM cap hit, they probably would have tried to work out a longer-term deal with the younger netminder. Perhaps their inability to move Howard was a blessing in disguise however, as Mrazek has imploded in the Wings’ net, posting an .894 save percentage behind a reeling team. Howard was actually off to a great start before suffering an injury, making the decision even harder this summer.

Howard is still likely on the move out of town as the Red Wings start a rebuild, but luckily they haven’t committed to Mrazek long-term. If they decide he’s not the goaltender they thought he was, and in a year choose to go in a different direction he’ll be a hefty trade chip on the market. If he rebounds and shows them that this was just a blip on what will be an otherwise excellent career, they can then lock him into a longer deal.

For St. Louis though, they have to hitch their horse to Allen and hope he can pull them out of it. With another four-years after this dedicated to the former second-round pick, they basically don’t have any other choice.

Calgary Flames| Detroit Red Wings| Free Agency| Injury| RFA| St. Louis Blues Brian Elliott| Colton Parayko| Jake Allen| James Reimer| Jimmy Howard| Kevin Shattenkirk| Patrik Berglund| Petr Mrazek| Robby Fabbri| Roberto Luongo

4 comments

Central Notes: Darling, Subban, Tarasenko, Maurice

January 21, 2017 at 9:49 am CDT | by natebrown Leave a Comment

The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins 1-0 Friday night thanks to another stellar game from Scott Darling. Darling has been superb this season, and as it usually goes for the Blackhawks, is due a pay raise when his contract expires after this season. Mark Lazerus writes that even with all the success, Darling is quick to credit his teammates for any one of his performances while also counting Corey Crawford as “one of the best goalies in the world.” In Darling’s mind, Lazerus reports, there is no goalie controversy, no matter how strong Darling continues to play.

In other Central Division news:

  • The return of P.K. Subban will continue to be a  delicate process writes the Tennessean’s Adam Vingan. Subban was supposed to play less in last night’s game but ended up logging 23 minutes of ice time. Vingan also reports that just having Subban’s presence in the lineup proves to be an immediate boon for the Predators’ possession game. With the Preds winning five of their last six, Vingan adds that there’s no rush for Subban to return to pre-injury form.
  • Stuck on 20 goals for a half dozen games, Jeremy Rutherford reports that Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock will move Vladimir Tarasenko in an effort to generate scoring. Tarasenko will move to a line with Patrik Berglund and Robby Fabbri since Berglund has notched 10 goals in his last 16 games. Rutherford adds that Berglund cannot recall ever being on the same line with Tarasenko in his five years with the Blues.
  • The Winnipeg Sun’s Paul Friesen doesn’t envy  Jets bench boss Paul Maurice in having to deal with all of the different personalities on the team. But he is “puzzled” by Maurice’s approach. Friesen compares Maurice’s handling of 20-year-old Nik Ehlers with that of 31-year-old Dustin Byfuglien, and just how different it is working with a veteran and a rookie. Friesen reports that while Maurice was quick to explain Ehler’s shortcomings, he’s unsure as to why a veteran like Byfuglien is immune to the same critiques. He just wonders how Maurice will get a more consistent effort out of both players.

Boston Bruins| Chicago Blackhawks| Injury| Ken Hitchcock| Nashville Predators| Paul Maurice| St. Louis Blues| Winnipeg Jets Corey Crawford| Dustin Byfuglien| P.K. Subban| Patrik Berglund| Robby Fabbri| Scott Darling| Vladimir Tarasenko

0 comments

Jori Lehtera To Be Healthy Scratched

December 3, 2016 at 11:01 am CDT | by Brett Barrett Leave a Comment

Jori Lehtera will be watching tonight’s game from the press box.

The skilled center will be a healthy scratch on Saturday night when St. Louis host the Winnipeg Jets, according to Lou Korac, who covers the Blues for NHL.com. It appears that Nail Yakupov will take his spot in the lineup.

Lehtera has seven points (3-4-7) in 20 games, and was demoted to the third line during last game. Earlier this season, coach Ken Hitchcock scratched Robby Fabbri to get him motivated, and now he’s doing it again with another of the Blues top-nine forwards.

Yakupov will play on the third line with Patrik Berglund and Dmitrij Jaskin. The former first-overall pick of the Edmonton Oilers has five points (2-3-5) in 16 games this season. He’s been healthy-scratched eight times so far this season, since being acquired in October for ECHL forward Zach Pochiro and a conditional draft pick.

According to Korac, Hitchcock said he’s liked Yakupov’s effort in the last three practices. His last game was November 23.

Ken Hitchcock| St. Louis Blues Jori Lehtera| Nail Yakupov| Robby Fabbri

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Blues Notes: Coaching, Fabbri, Butler

November 12, 2016 at 12:40 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

The St. Louis Blues find themselves in a unique position this season when it comes to their coaching staff.  Long-time head coach Ken Hitchcock announced during the offseason that he would be retiring at the end of the year and the team hired Mike Yeo as their coach-in-waiting.  Throughout the major North American sports landscape, many teams are hesitant to have a coach in a ‘lame duck’ season with one year left on his contract so it’s particularly noteworthy that St. Louis is openly going with one in Hitchcock this season.

A quick look at the standings would suggest that it seems to be working so far.  The Blues find themselves second in the Central Division with a points percentage over .500.  However, the team has a negative goal differential, have taken a lot of undisciplined penalties, and are currently struggling on the man advantage.  With that in mind, Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders if the Blues should promote Yeo now to the head coaching spot.

Hitchcock’s teams with St. Louis have in part been defined by their size and physicality, something that isn’t the case this year as power forwards David Backes and Troy Brouwer were replaced by faster, more finesse options in David Perron and Nail Yakupov.  So far, the Blues have been hit-or-miss when it comes to playing their desired up-tempo style and that inconsistency – especially on the road – has proven costly as of late.

Given Hitchcock’s track record and the fact that the Blues are currently in a playoff spot, it’s hard to foresee them making the switch behind the bench this quickly.  If their recent struggles continue though, promoting Yeo earlier than anticipated could become an option, especially if GM Doug Armstrong isn’t able to make any substantive changes to the roster beforehand.

More from St. Louis:

  • As Hitchcock continues to shake up the lineup in an effort to get the team going, left winger Robby Fabbri is the most recent forward to be a healthy scratch. The sophomore has struggled lately with just one point in his last ten games and has only four points (1-3-4) on the season.  Fabbri tells Tom Timmermann of the Post-Dispatch that the decision to hit him didn’t come as too much of a surprise: “It’s my first time being scratched ever, so it’s a little bit of a different feeling.  Surprised? No. You start getting a feel from them and a feel from how you think you’re playing, and you know there’s a possibility. Once I saw it, I tried to get over it as soon as possible and move on and get ready for what’s coming up.”  It appears that Fabbri will get back into the lineup tonight and play along Jori Lehtera and Vladimir Tarasenko, reports Chris Pinkert of the team’s official site.
  • The Blues announced that they have re-assigned defenseman Chris Butler to their AHL affiliate in Chicago, just one day after recalling him. As a result, they’re back to just the minimum of six healthy blueliners on the active roster.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising if Butler or another rearguard was to be brought back up before too long.

Coaches| Ken Hitchcock| Mike Yeo| St. Louis Blues Chris Butler| Robby Fabbri

0 comments

Blues Notes: Fabbri, Hutton, Gunnarsson

November 10, 2016 at 12:31 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

After scratching former first-overall pick Nail Yakupov for three straight games, St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock will now sit down another highly regarded forward according to Lou Korac of NHL.com. Yakupov will dress tonight in place of Robby Fabbri, the Blues’ first-round pick from 2014. Hitchcock explained his decision (via Korac):

You have to make a decision whether you want to be in the group of 14, or you want to stay in that top 9 or 10.

It’s all connected to tenacity…goals and assists I don’t look at.

This will be the first time in his (albeit short) career that Fabbri will be a healthy scratch, after having a successful rookie campaign last season. The 20-year old scored 18 goals and 37 points playing most of the year as a teenager and looked like a future star in the league. Though this obviously doesn’t mean much for Fabbri’s future, sitting him in the press box is a strong message that they need more from him; he’s currently sitting on just four points in 14 games.

  • The team announced that Carter Hutton will be in net tonight when they take on the Nashville Predators, his old team. Hutton spent the past three seasons with the club, recording a 33-23-12 record and strong .910 save percentage. After the Blues dealt Brian Elliott to the Flames this summer, they were in need of a backup to Jake Allen and Hutton fit the bill perfectly. The 30-year old took a little longer to develop, but is now showing his worth; he’s carrying a .926 through four games.
  • The Blues have recalled Chris Butler for tonight’s game due to some lingering injuries on the back end. As Korac reports, it’s just precautionary should anyone not be able to go after the warmups. Hitchcock singled out Carl Gunnarsson as the most noticable injury. Butler has played eleven games for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL this season, recording two points and eight penalty minutes.

AHL| Calgary Flames| Injury| NHL| Nashville Predators| St. Louis Blues Brian Elliott| Carter Hutton| Chris Butler| Jake Allen| Nail Yakupov| Robby Fabbri

0 comments

Injury Notes: Janmark, Ekblad, Schwartz, Fabbri, Nosek

September 29, 2016 at 3:51 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Dallas center Mattias Janmark was spotted leaving the arena today on crutches, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News was among those to report.  No update has been provided on his condition although one is expected later today.

The Stars have been bit hard by the injury bug early on with center Cody Eakin (knee), right winger Ales Hemsky (groin), and center Tyler Seguin (heel) all down already.

Janmark had a solid rookie campaign last season, scoring 15 goals and 14 assists in 73 regular season games while averaging 14:10 per game.  He had a slightly bigger role in the postseason, recording two goals and three helpers in 12 contests while logging 14:41 per night in ice time.

Dallas has one of the strongest and deepest forward groups in the league but it is getting put to the test early on.

Other injury news and notes:

  • Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad was dealing with whiplash and not a concussion from a hit sustained as the World Cup of Hockey, writes George Richards of the Miami Herald. The symptoms from the neck issue mimicked those of a concussion, causing the early confusion.  Ekblad was given the green light to return to practice on Wednesday.
  • Blues left winger Jaden Schwartz suffered a minor upper body injury (believed to be a hand/wrist issue) in practice today, report Tom Timmermann and Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Schwartz will be held out through the weekend for precautionary reasons.  From the same report, Robby Fabbri (upper body) missed his fourth straight day of practice but is believed to be close to being able to return.
  • Detroit center Tomas Nosek has started skating as he continues to recover from a knee injury, notes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Nosek got into six games with the Red Wings last season and will likely see time as an injury recall during the year if he doesn’t earn a spot in training camp.  He sustained the injury in a collision with teammate Steve Ott in a scrimmage game.

Injury Aaron Ekblad| Jaden Schwartz| Mattias Janmark| Robby Fabbri| Tomas Nosek

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