Nashville Predators: Five Players With Most to Prove in Upcoming Season
By Chad Minton
Fabbro has become a trade piece, possibly expendable
For a much different reason from Forsberg, Dante Fabbro makes my list of players with most to prove in 2022-23. He’s been at the center of trade rumors all offseason, and his roster spot doesn’t seem so secure anymore after the addition of McDonagh, the signing of Jeremy Lauzon, and the emergence of Alexandre Carrier.
Fabbro was thrown into the fire very quick into his career in 2019 at the young age of 20. To his credit, his defensive game has emerged into a reliable one and he’s been very effective in that part of his game.
The thing with Fabbro is he has failed to move the needle offensively and be one of those drivers like his colleagues Mattias Ekholm and Roman Josi. Now to be fair, those are veterans and Fabbro is still developing his game going into just his fourth full-time season in the NHL.
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Whether his long-term future is with Nashville or somewhere else, Fabbro has a lot to prove this season. He’ll likely be in a smaller role on the third pairing, which means less ice time. It will be more difficult to make the impact he’d like.
With that said, Fabbro can still be a very beneficial player to this Predators team on the third pairing. If he can increase his trade value then you starting thinking about what might happen at the trade deadline and beyond.
Fabbro is a true professional and quality leader, and I’m hoping to see him really take a step forward and prove he’s a top-four defenseman on a majority of NHL teams. That will at the very least lead to more trade suitors, and give the Predators some leverage.