{"id":485797,"date":"2026-03-04T23:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/485797\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T23:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T23:08:13","slug":"fortitude-defines-robby-fabbris-career-minnesota-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/485797\/","title":{"rendered":"Fortitude Defines Robby Fabbri’s Career – Minnesota Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tVery soon, the Robby Fabbri<\/a> waiver claim will be buried under the sands of history. Typically, that process takes hundreds or even thousands of years. In the NHL, a single trade deadline can strike a waiver claim from your memory.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tTurning back the sands of history, Fabbri\u2019s story evokes a quote<\/a> from the Roman philosopher and dramatist Seneca:\u00a0\u201cWe are naturally disposed to admire more than anything else the man who shows fortitude in adversity.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNowhere else is this more true than in sports. In Fabbri\u2019s case, fortitude is the defining characteristic of his career.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFabbri was drafted 21st overall in 2014. He sported strong production<\/a> in his draft year, which grew even as the St. Louis Blues elevated him to their NHL roster in his age-20 season.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"fabbri\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMore than that, though, he was a compelling story<\/a>. Fabbri was one of those kids who couldn\u2019t imagine any possible future for himself besides a career in the NHL. At the age of seven, his grandfather asked Fabbri what else he would do if he couldn\u2019t play in the NHL. The boy rejected his grandfather\u2019s premise.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tYears later, Fabbri left the powerhouse Toronto Marlies for his hometown Mississauga Rebels. They eventually met in the OHL Cup finals. To hear Fabbri\u2019s father tell it, \u201cA lot of people said, \u2018They\u2019re not the Marlies, they\u2019re not going to win.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFabbri dragged his underdog Rebels to victory over a Marlies roster sporting Connor McDavid<\/a> and Sam Bennett<\/a> — maybe you\u2019ve heard of them. While the re-telling of that story includes quotes from Fabbri\u2019s father and agent, it\u2019s hard to avoid buying into his homecoming and eventual victory over a generational opponent.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tJust a year after his draft summer, Fabbri made St. Louis\u2019 2015-16 opening night roster. He quickly added to his rising-star resume, scoring around a 20-goal pace per 82 games. That continued for 51 games during the 2016-17 season.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s when the adversity hit.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOn February 4, 2017, Fabbri tore his ACL. He was cleared to return to the ice after five months of rehab, effectively costing him an offseason of development. But, entering his age-22 season, it provided an opportunity to get back into shape.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThen, he tore his ACL again in the 2017 preseason. He spent 20 months away from regular-season hockey between the back-to-back injuries. Extended injury rehab is frustrating for anyone, especially for elite athletes. For a person whose identity revolved around the sport since the age of seven, those 20 months can get long, dark, and lonely.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tInstead, Fabbri made the most of the opportunity. He went home to Ontario for the second rehab stint, which led him to meet up with Matt Nichol. Fabbri\u2019s agent, Mark Guy, credited it as a turning point for Fabbri. He became more dedicated to his training and conditioning than ever before.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFabbri also designed a line of hats (perhaps out of boredom) and got a French Bulldog.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"fabbri\n<\/p>\n

\n\tAll that perseverance in the face of adversity, though, doesn\u2019t mean it turns around immediately.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tNot only did Fabbri lose the entire 2017-18 season to a grueling rehab process, but he also missed out on a contract year. In the summer of 2018, the Restricted Free Agent (RFA) class — Fabbri\u2019s peers from the same draft class — signed deals eclipsing $30 million. He had to settle for a prove-it deal: one year, $925,000.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThese RFA prove-it deals are sometimes framed as a win-win for both parties. The team gets a year at a suppressed cap hit, while the player gets a chance at a raise the following year. In reality, the player takes on enormous risk with very little cash in the bank. In Fabbri\u2019s case, his career earnings amounted to only three years on his ELC, plus the $925,000 of the one-year extension (and whatever he made from the hat deal, I guess).\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat risk bit Fabbri hard. He played only 32 regular-season games, battled groin and shoulder injuries<\/a>, and registered six points.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"Fabbri\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s the good news: Unless you were steeped in the lore of Robby Fabbri before reading this article, none of this is the first thing that comes to mind. The crowning achievement of his career is his 2019 Stanley Cup victory with the Blues.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHe only suited up for ten playoff games, averaging about nine minutes of ice time. He scored only one goal.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not unreasonable to estimate that by now, having turned 30 in January, Fabbri has lost over $40 million in career earnings. But, if you asked seven-year-old Robby, would any of that really matter? I would venture to guess that the Cup ring makes it all worth it.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBut what does Fabbri bring to the Wild at age 30?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the big picture, Fabbri is similar to last year\u2019s waiver pickup: Vinnie Hinostroza<\/a>. Both players can support Minnesota\u2019s fourth line. They provide more skill than a typical fourth-line grinder, but provide less defense than the bottom-line two-way prototype.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHe still has an NHL shot and, when given opportunities in open space, he\u2019s able to flash that skill that characterized his early years. His highlight tape from 2020-21 also shows a veteran\u2019s instinct at the net.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0However, his highlight reel from last year<\/a> is concerningly short. It mostly features Fabbri cashing in on greasy chances, leaky goaltending, or defensive lapses.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFabbri\u2019s skill has waned from the promise of his rookie year in St. Louis. He\u2019s never eclipsed the 18 goals he scored as a rookie, though he tied it in 2023-24 with the Detroit Red Wings.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThere, he was an effective role player who provided third-line value<\/a>. His minutes<\/a> weren\u2019t notably challenging or sheltered. He averaged nearly 13 minutes per game, including about two minutes per-night on the second power play unit. Fabbri likely won\u2019t factor into Minnesota\u2019s power play except as injury insurance.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"Fabbri\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe analytics from Fabbri\u2019s 2024-25 season with Anaheim are distressingly bad. A minus-15 rating implies that Fabbri performed well below replacement level. This, combined with St. Louis\u2019s decision to waive Fabbri despite their history and their place in the standings, is reason for concern.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\"Fabbri\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFabbri was banged up<\/a> through his final season in Detroit, including an 11-game absence for a lower-body injury. Those injuries continued in 2024-25, when he missed 13 games for a knee surgery and suffered a hand injury in March.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s possible that the time to recover from those injuries will lead to a bounce-back to that third-line form he showed in Detroit. Still, it\u2019s hard to square that with his being cut from St. Louis\u2019s roster, given their poor showing this season. Even in a rebuilding year, a third-line quality forward would be retained or traded. If they waived him, that means no NHL team was willing to trade anything for Fabbri.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThat means that the only explanation for Fabbri resurging in Minnesota would be the change of scenery. You have to squint a bit to see it, but it may be a shot worth taking. Minnesota\u2019s current fourth line has been dreadful<\/a> aside from Nico Sturm<\/a>. Replacing one of Ben Jones<\/a>, Tyler Pitlick<\/a>, or Hinostroza with Fabbri could provide marginal gains.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMore than that, the threat of competition for fourth-line wing minutes could elevate the play of all four players.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s also true that Fabri\u2019s best hockey has come with a team fighting for a playoff spot (the \u201823-24 Red Wings), and his dreadful hockey came on floundering rosters in Anaheim and St. Louis.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, I don\u2019t think that the key to unlocking Fabbri is a sheltered role. His minutes in Anaheim were measurably sheltered, given the quality of teammates and the competition (25th-percentile offensive difficulty per The Athletic\u2019s model above). But, giving Fabbri a chance to play a role on a contending team could awaken another level in him.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOn top of that, Minnesota\u2019s systems may be a better fit for Fabbri. As outlined in Jack Han\u2019s Hockey Tactics 2025<\/a> (which includes a page for the Ducks titled, \u201cSpotlight: How Not to Defend\u201d), Anaheim\u2019s defensive systems were designed more to teach young players defensive fundamentals than to optimize for keeping pucks out of the net.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s possible that this created two problems for Fabbri. First, for an aging player who\u2019s battled lower-body injuries, it demands too much skating on defense. Second, it creates a feedback loop in which every skater on the Ducks charts worse defensive analytics than their actual ability.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMinnesota plays a more typical zone defense, which does not require players to chase their man around the entire zone. It also keeps wingers from defending the slot.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tBetween the change of scenery and a better systems fit, it seems the Wild\u2019s pro scouting staff has talked itself into the possibility of a Fabbri rebound. For the price of a pro-rated $775,000 cap hit, it\u2019s a reasonable bet.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tMore than that, though, it\u2019s one final chance for Fabbri to show his fortitude. In the face of adversity, getting cut, and now Father Time, Fabbri still refuses to blink. At age seven or age 30, there\u2019s still no other option for him besides playing in the NHL.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\n\tOnce again, bouncing back from multiple injuries, Fabbri gets a chance to win a Stanley Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Very soon, the Robby Fabbri waiver claim will be buried under the sands of history. Typically, that process…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5118],"tags":[5,161,38,5280,4,4189,162],"class_list":["post-485797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-minnesota-wild","tag-hockey","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-minnesotawild","tag-nhl","tag-robby-fabbri","tag-wild"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116173426431929133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}