Eastern Conference Team Claims Nashville Predators Fan Favorite Dante Fabbro Off Waivers
The Columbus Blue Jackets have claimed defenseman Dante Fabbro off waivers from the Nashville Predators.
The move was announced by Sportsnet Hockey insider Elliotte Friedman, who had reported yesterday on Hockey Night In Canada's 'Saturday Headlines' that it seemed unlikely that Fabbro would be claimed off waivers, given his $2.5M cap hit for this season. Instead, Columbus now takes a chance on the youngster.
Fabbro has been a positively rated player by advanced metrics that view his overall contribution as much stronger than what is portrayed on the stat sheet.
According to PuckPedia, Nashville was ninth in the standings for waived players based on current win percentage.
Although Fabbro has underperformed to what would have been liked of him, there are still other teams that logically would have wanted a defensively responsible player like Fabbro who is both young and a former first round pick, both lifesavers in the past for other players.
A former first round pick of the Nashville Predators in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Fabbro spent three seasons in the NCAA with Boston University before making his debut with the Predators in 2019. Fabbro has played parts of seven seasons with the club, the RHD being a decent bottom-four pairing defensive defenseman.
Fabbro, 26, has been pointless in six games for the Predators this season, who are 13th in the Western Conference. Fabbro had 3 goals and 13 points in 56 games for Nashville in the 2023-24 season.
Internationally, Fabbro has represented Canada at the World Junior Championship, winning gold in 2018 and silver in 2017, and a World Championship silver medal in 2019.
