The Detroit Red Wings announced the signing of forward Robby Fabbri to a three-year deal on Monday night.
UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today signed center Robby Fabbri to a three-year contract extension with an average annual value of $4 million. pic.twitter.com/s4p9O9XuCr
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) December 14, 2021
And… Can it be?! They actually included financial terms!
I didn’t love the deal when I first heard it but, after sleeping on it, I think it’s entirely reasonable.
My initial thought was that it didn’t look right to have Fabbri signed for longer than any other player on the roster. But that’s just an effect of the Red Wings having so few players signed to term. There’s nothing wrong with three years given what Fabbri has shown in his time with Detroit.
The AAV of $4 million might be a touch high but the Red Wings aren’t projected to be a cap team in the next three years so it’s not the end of the world by any means. In a cap world we’d love everyone to want to sign with our team for the league minimum, of course. But this is an amount that can probably be traded, if necessary, or can be traded with salary retained (if even more necessary).
A contract for Fabbri was always going to be interesting because of where the Wings are in their rebuild. A pending free agent this summer, Fabbri could have been flipped at the deadline for assets towards the rebuild. That would have just left the team needing to replace him, though.
On a three-year deal, he’ll still be young enough that, if the Wings are still rebuilding at the end of his contract (or if young players from the rebuild have pushed him out of the lineup, in a more optimistic scenario), he can be flipped as a pending free agent down the road.
I think it’s a safe deal, if a little expensive.
