'I wanted to be a part of it': Fabbri re-ups with Detroit for three years

DETROIT -- Robby Fabbri has found a home in Hockeytown.
The Detroit Red Wings announced a three-year contract extension for Fabbri on Monday night, officially making the versatile centerman and winger an anchor of the club's young core 25 months after acquiring him via trade from the St. Louis Blues.

When healthy and in the lineup, Fabbri has been one of Detroit's most steady and consistent offensive players. He has totaled 63 points on 32 goals and 31 assists in 110 games for the Red Wings, ranking behind only captain Dylan Larkin (86 points) and Filip Hronek (64) during that span.
Fabbri and his fiance celebrated the extension with a glass of wine on Monday, and said this was the long-term move he was hoping for since arriving in Detroit.
"Definitely, that was the plan going into the season, and ever since I came here, really," Fabbri said. "It's just such a great group that we've got going in there, and improving each and every year. It's fun to be a part of, and I wanted to be a part of it."

This season, Fabbri has tallied 14 points on eight goals and six assists while skating in all 28 games. He's centered Detroit's second line and earned starting assignments on the top line as a winger when inevitable lineup shifts have taken place due to injuries, COVID protocols and the general grind of an 82-game regular season.
Before turning pro, the Mississauga, Ontario native played three seasons (2012-15) with the OHL's Guelph Storm alongside current Red Wings teammates Tyler Bertuzzi, Givani Smith and Pius Suter for various stints. Fabbri made his debut with the Blues in the 2015-16 season and hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2019 after battling back from an injury that wiped out his entire 2017-18 campaign. He was traded to Detroit for Jacob de la Rose on Nov. 8, 2019 and welcomed the fresh start after recovering from a pair of ACL surgeries.
"It was basically just getting my career back on track, and playing at the level I know that I can play at," Fabbri said.
What's impressed Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill about Fabbri is that he plays "extraordinarily hard." It's an edge that Fabbri quickly regained after fully recovering from his injuries shortly after arriving in Detroit and having a conversation with Blashill about avoiding to play "careful."
"Everybody in this league plays hard, but he's, I think, played extraordinarily hard, and I think that's who he is as a person," Blashill said. "I think this year especially, from the drop of the puck in training camp, from the first practice, he's done an excellent job of really, really competing on a day-to-day basis.
"To me, then he gets to use his skillset and he can really shoot the puck in the net, and he's got good hockey smarts. He can separate himself with that competitiveness, that's what he's gotta do."

Fabbri had previously inked a deal with the Red Wings, signing a two-year contact in August 2020. Now, the 25-year-old is a long-term piece of the Red Wings' youthful group that is aiming to send Detroit back to the postseason.
"Not only Bert, Larks, myself; it's a full team effort in there," Fabbri said. "Whatever everyone brings every night and every single day in practice is what's helping us grow, become a little more consistent. We still got room for improvement; we all know that in that room, and what we gotta work on. But it's fun coming to the rink every day and doing it with these guys."
Fabbri also gave an ode to the Hockeytown faithful, a fanbase that has given the Red Wings a noticeable home-ice advantage this season after a year of being away from Little Caesars Arena.
"The fans have been great. We've been feeding off what they've been feeling this year, and we're feeling the same way in the room," Fabbri said. "We're just trying to get better and better every game, and like I said, it's fun to be with this group right now and we're working towards what we want to be in the near future."