Dante Fabbro Claimed on Waivers After Connection to Edmonton Oilers
The hockey world was surprised yesterday when the Nashville Predators placed defenceman Dante Fabbro on waivers, specifically the Edmonton Oilers who are looking to trade for a defenceman like him.
Unfortunately, the Oilers didn't even get a chance to place a claim on Fabbro. The Columbus Blue Jackets, higher in the waiver priority order, placed a claim to acquire Fabbro.
Fabbro is a 26 year old right shot defenceman, and a former first round draft pick of the Predators in 2016. He's consistently put up decent analytics in his time with the Predators, but his ice time has significantly decreased over the last two years.
Fabbro is under contract for only $2.5M, but that even that salary would've been tough for the Oilers to take. Just yesterday, multiple insiders expected the Oilers to place a claim on Fabbro.
Fabbro was a healthy scratch 9 times this season, and only played third pair minutes. Last season the Predators only played him in 56 games, and scratched him for three playoff games. There is some promising data around Fabbro, but it seems that the Predators have lost trust in him as an NHL player - and they're closest to the player.
The Oilers may have believed in Fabbro enough to place a claim on him, but taking his full $2.5M salary likely would mean that he would essentially be the team's trade deadline acquisition. Fabbro may turn out to play up to his potential in Columbus, but it still would've been a major risk for the Oilers to claim Fabbro.
Now that the opportunity is gone, the Oilers will be back to the drawing board on trade targets for defenceman this year. Hopefully they got a home run with a perfect partner for Darnell Nurse, and really address the team's biggest need.
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