Dante Fabbro Looks Like the First Nashville Predators Trade Piece to Go

Dante Fabbro is in his fourth full year playing with the Nashville Predators. As a former 17th-overall pick, he his trending towards being traded soon.

Time is ticking on the Nashville Predators to figure out what their plan is regarding the NHL Trade Deadline, which is just over two weeks away.

Much like the last couple of years, the Nashville Predators appear to be a franchise without any clear direction, just hovering around in obscurity without a long-term plan. A very frustrating place to be in, and you see it in most Predators fans you come across.

With that said, the Nashville Predators have plenty of trade pieces they can consider moving in the coming weeks. Really everyone should be on notice with the exception of some of the young, core players and of course your two long-term superstars in Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg.

Aside from those, anyone is possible, but Fabbro makes the most logical sense to move on from first.

Fabbro Should be an Easy Trade Piece to Move for Nashville Predators

A lot of teams are going to have issues trading for the players they actually want due to cap restraints. It’s an ongoing problem for the league as teams don’t have the flexibility to be as aggressive as they want in upgrading their rosters in pursuit of the postseason and a Stanley Cup.

The Predators are one of those tweeners that aren’t as terrible as say, an Anaheim Ducks squad, but certainly are nowhere near the elite levels of the Boston Bruins of the world.

This reality is becoming clearer for Nashville Predators GM David Poile, who made some revealing comments to Nashville’s 102.5 The Game (Robby and Rexrode) earlier this week by telling the morning show that being sellers is likely:

So it looks like Poile is finally coming to grips with what many fans have been beating the drum about for a few years now; this team needs a refresh and to stop living in an alternate universe where this same aging veteran core is good enough to win what would be the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

The problem with all of this is, the Predators remain within striking distance of a playoff spot in both the division race and in the wildcard. You would never realize that when assessing the sentiment surrounding the team.

Even with the playoffs still within reach, Fabbro makes complete sense to trade. He will be an RFA this upcoming offseason and will be difficult to retain. At age 24 and already with over 200 games in his NHL career, there will be teams out there who show interest in the still young defenseman.

You have to take into account all of the other pending RFAs that are higher priority in keeping than Fabbro. Cody Glass comes to mind first, and then you have Alexandre Carrier as well.

Acquiring some extra draft picks and making room on the NHL roster for others to move in has to be a top priority for the Predators’ front office right now heading towards the trade deadline. It doesn’t mean you have to completely give up on this current season, but you certainly have to come to grips with the fact that you’re not going to be able to keep all of these pending RFA and UFAs coming up.

Fabbro is going to catchup teams’ interest who think they can unlock his potential. In just his fourth full season in the NHL, it’s way too early to be giving up on a player like Fabbro. Especially considering he does a lot of good things on the defensive side of things, and just hasn’t lived up to being a top-four defenseman just yet. Maybe another team thinks there’s still potential there.

Fabbro set a career high in points last season with 24 but has just eight in the current campaign. He has never eclipsed more than five goals despite getting an ample amount of playing time and opportunities to increase his offensive production.

Other Trade Options to Consider

After Fabbro, I’m seriously considering ways to find trade partners for Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and even possibly Kevin Lankinen. Granlund will be difficult  as his value has dropped and he’s sitting at two more years with a $5 million cap hit. You’re probably stuck with him, but at least you can test the market.

Niederreiter will be much easier to trade with only one year left and a cheaper contract, plus his veteran experience and playoff experience will be enticing to some teams. I loved the free agent acquisition of Niederreiter in the offseason, but unfortunately it hasn’t worked out to the degree that it needed to.

Fabbro remains at the top of my list on my Nashville Predators trade board for now, and it will be hard for me to move him out of that spot. I’ll be way more surprised if he’s not traded by Nashville than if they end up keeping him past March 3.