Remember when we thought Nashville Predators Head Coach John Hynes was done making perplexing lineup decisions? Oh how foolish we were.
In a move that has the Smashville faithful stunned beyond belief, Dante Fabbro has been scratched for the entirety of the playoffs thus far. Nobody could have seen this coming, as he had steadily improved over the course of the season before sustaining an injury on April 6.
Since then, Fabbro has played in two games, one of which he only had 14:35 of ice time, and the other being the game the regular season finale, when the Predators had secured their position in the playoffs.
Why Hynes is opting not to play one of his brightest young defensemen remains a colossal mystery and is honestly concerning, especially considering that the Predators’ third defensive pair, and Ben Harpur especially, has been a dumpster fire in the playoffs thus far.
I also find it hard to believe that Fabbro’s absence is injury related, since he played his second-most minutes of the regular season in the aforementioned finale.
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Why could Fabbro be out of the lineup at such a critical time, and how does this recent development affect his future on the Predators?
There is likely something happening behind the scenes
As I mentioned above, I do not believe Fabbro’s benching is injury or talent related. No, for as critical as I am of Hynes, I do not believe that he, or any NHL head coach, would consider Harpur a better option than Fabbro at this point in the series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
And with the Predators finally embracing the youth movement, wouldn’t he be the kind of guy you want in the lineup on a nightly basis?
The only reasons I can come up with for why Fabbro is not playing are disciplinary. Is he being benched due to his attitude, lacking the intangibles to play postseason hockey, or potentially that he did not maintain appropriate shape during his injury recovery?
Could the reason he appeared for warmups in Game 4 be that the coaches wanted to see if he could keep pace during games, and then he got pulled because they decided he could not?
Obviously, all of this is pure speculation, and the above sentence may seem like a reach. But knowing that he has been out every game of the playoffs, and the Predators have not given any reason why, I think there is a good chance that he is clashing with the coaching staff (potentially his teammates as well) and being punished as a result.
Also remember that he is only 22-years-old and that it is not uncommon for players at that age to deal with maturity issues.
What does the future hold for Fabbro with Nashville Predators?
We may have no idea why Fabbro is being scratched right now, but we will soon find out how the Predators organization views him. His entry-level contract expires at the conclusion of this season, and the team has options if they don’t want to re-sign him.
The most notable of those options is the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, in which General Manager David Poile could opt to leave Fabbro exposed. The Kraken may have a hard time passing on him, as he has potential to be a cornerstone defenseman and will be a cheap option for at least the short term.
Fabbro could also be moved via trade, and while this is wishful thinking on my part, he could be used as a part of a package to acquire a star forward. He could also be flipped for a draft pick if the relationship between him and the team is actually strained.
This is extremely unlikely, but Poile could also choose to not give Fabbro a qualifying offer on his next contract, which would make him an unrestricted free agent this coming offseason. Even with the uncertainty with the salary cap in the 2021-2022 season, I just see no way that Poile flat out gives up on a rising player who was a first round pick in the 2016 draft.
The more and more he is kept out of the lineup, I unfortunately think there is a lower and lower chance we see him in Nashville next season. Unless he is dealing with personal stuff, which I obviously hope is not the case, it just doesn’t make sense that he’s not playing, and the organization may think they are better off without him.
Hopefully all of this speculation is wrong, and he can get back on the ice as soon as possible, because he would be a huge upgrade on the third defensive pairing.