Star young St. Louis Blues forward Robby Fabbri tore his ACL in February of 2017, costing him the remainder of the 2016-17 season. His absence was noticeable in the Blues lineup. Luckily, they had players like Vladimir Sobotka re-join the team and they filled his shoes a bit. Still, Fabbri would’ve been a big help in the latter half of a year filled with hiccups.
On Monday, the Blues announced that Fabbri re-injured his knee. He was held out of practice Saturday and Sunday’s pre-season game by coach Mike Yeo. The team said Fabbri would be re-evaluated for his injury in ten days, when fans would get an official time table for the injury. Well, two days later, the bad news came out. The team tweeted out at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday that Fabbri would miss the entire upcoming season.
BREAKING NEWS: Robby Fabbri will miss the entire 2017-18 season after re-injuring his left knee. #stlblues https://t.co/KRBQYA08Xq
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) September 27, 2017
Robby Fabbri to Miss the Entirety of the 2017-18 Season
This injury is detrimental to both the team’s success and Fabbri’s development. The 21-year-old seemed to work well in January of last year, playing first line minutes with Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. In a time when the team was struggling, that line was a diamond in the rough. The Blues didn’t pick up a top line center this off-season, like they wanted to, so it was assumed Fabbri would at least get a shot at the role. Playing top line minutes with two elite players would have done wonders for Fabbri as a player. That’s exactly what the Blues were hoping for, too. They wanted an already decent young player to quicky grow into an elite center. Fabbri had the basis of this, and just needed some more time in the oven.
Now, Fabbri is likely not going to be able to capture that top line spot. Not anytime soon at least. The team will have to wait for top prospects Adam Musil, Tage Thompson, or Klim Kostin to grow into an elite level in the NHL. While these players have showed strengths in recent play, they are not NHL ready, yet. They are also not guaranteed to become elite players either.
Main Photo: SAN JOSE, CA – JANUARY 14: Robby Fabbri #15 of the St. Louis Blues skates against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on January 14, 2017 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Rocky W. Widner/NHL/Getty Images)