The Hockey News’s Jason Chen penned a medium-sized article discussing the Detroit Red Wings’ 2021-2022 season outlook from a fantasy hockey perspective, and Chen isn’t particularly bullish on the Wings, but he believes that Robby Fabbri might be a good pick:
Hidden gem: Robby Fabbri, C/LW: There’s no real gem in the Red Wings lineup for fantasy purposes, but Fabbri does carry quite a bit of intrigue. The 21st overall pick in 2014, Fabbri’s career started off really well but injuries – he sat out the entire 2017-18 season due to his knee – took their toll, and the Blues traded him for Jacob De La Rose to give him a fresh start and more playing opportunities. His raw numbers haven’t been particularly good, but two advanced numbers jump out. First, his career 13.4 S% ranks 65th out of 277 players (top 25 percent) who have scored at least 50 goals since Fabbri’s rookie season, and second, according to naturalstattrick.com, he consistently outperforms his expected goals at 5-on-5.
That’s usually a sign of a pretty good player – good players should perform above expectations – and the Wings definitely leverage his talent but starting him in the offensive zone over half the time. Fabbri’s a high-risk pick because his injury history is a little concerning, and even if all things go right, the Wings still won’t be a very good team. The Pool Guide has Fabbri pegged for 38 points, but I think he could just as easily finish above Vrana (53), Zadina (40) and Tyler Bertuzzi (45).
Continued, with equally sunny proclamations…
