The Florida Panthers AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, have signed veteran winger Robby Fabbri to a professional tryout.
The 29-year-old has played in 442 games in the NHL, scoring 106 goals and 216 points. His nine NHL seasons have been spent with the St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks. He was originally selected by the Blues in the first round (21st overall) in the 2014 NHL draft.
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Fabbri has little AHL experience, skating in just six games, but the skilled winger has found it increasingly difficult to lock down spots on NHL lineups. Last season with the Ducks, Fabbri scored just eight goals and 16 points in 44 games.
He’s played more than 60 games just twice in his NHL career. Although he hasn’t had the individual success many thought he could achieve, he’s won at multiple levels. He was part of the Blues’ 2019 Stanley Cup win, won gold with Team Canada at the world juniors and won an OHL championship with the Guelph Storm.
He hasn’t played any professional hockey games since pre-season, when he was on a PTO with the Pittsburgh Penguins, so it may take a little while for Fabbri to get his legs under him, but he should be a top-end contributor on the Checkers once he does get back into game shape.
The Checkers currently sit in fifth place in the Atlantic Division and are just three points back of third place despite playing three fewer games. The Checkers have struggled to score goals this season, and Fabbri should help the team improve offensively.
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