Yesterday on November 9th, 2024, it was announced by Elliot Friedman that the Nashville Predators had placed defenseman Throughout the 2024-25 season, Dante Fabbro on waivers. Fabbro has been in and out of the line up, being a healthy scratch in five consecutive games and averaging just 13:06 of ice time in the six games he played, with no points and a minus-3 rating.
He has trade value being a right handed defenseman so the move doesn't make a ton of sense, as multiple teams had some interest in him during the last season so I fully expect him to be claimed. So that begs the question, why was he put on waivers?
Struggling to Find Consistency
Dante Fabbro has failed to find a consistent lineup spot, going between the first and third D pairing throughout his time played. There's reason for this, he's historically played well with Josi, however with the new addition of Brady Skjei, you don't want to leave your second highest paid defenseman on the third pairing.
You could put him on the second line, but that breaks up the dynamic duo of Lauzon and Carrier (even if they haven't been great 5 on 5 this season). So that leads the only option of putting Fabbro with Schenn, which hasn't been an effective third pair.
Too Many Defenseman
A few of the Milwaukee Admirals are starting to make strides towards becoming full time NHLers, but with this season's roster, there aren't exactly enough spots to fill. Mark Del Gaizo has recently found a consistent spot being paird with Luke Schenn, and Spencer Statsney will likely return sooner than later, so where does that leave room for Fabbro? In short, it doesn't.
We saw a similar situation with Tyson Barrie last year who eventually left as a free agent, but before that was struggling to stay on the roster competing with up and comers like Spencer Statsney. The next few years will look similar, with notable players like Ryan Ufko, Adam WIlsby, and Jake linvingstone continuing to develop. So looking at the current lineup, it's about planning for the now and for the future.
Salary Cap Space
I think this may be one of the bigger factors, as Fabbro is signed a 1 year 2.5 million dollar contract, and the Predators are near the cap ceiling. There's a tough situation going on with their cap because of the Ryan Johansen contract buyout situation, but as it stands, their current cap space is $4,782,276 per Puckpedia, but if the Johansen buyout gets appealed, they'll be right below the cap at 782,276 in cap space.
With all of the recent high dollar signings with no move clauses, the Preds are in a tricky situation if they want to add before the trade deadline. So getting 2.5 million in cap relief puts them in a better adding scenario given the team starts turning the season around. I would expect a trade to involve Tommy Novak and one of their first round picks if this happened.
Why Not Trade Him?
Since Trotz became GM, it's been clear he thinks highly of his players and expects big returns for players. Someone like Fabbro I would imagine he wanted more than what teams were willing to give up, but some return is better than a player being claimed off waivers. When he gets claimed, this is going to sting Preds fans much like when Eeli Tolvanen got claimed by Seattle and became a point per game player.
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