St. Louis Blues: 5 Players with Something to Prove After the All-Star Break

Robby Fabbri

After 52 games, the next player up behind perennial threats Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, and David Backes on the Blues’ goals scored list is rookie Robby Fabbri, which has to be somewhat surprising to most Blues fans (at least for those who hadn’t seen the 20-year-old absolutely take over at the Blues’ last two summer prospect camps in St. Louis). Though the 2014 first-rounder is undersized at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds and will have to fight that obstacle throughout his career, he’s already established himself as a supremely athletic playmaker, capable of both setting up plays for others and scoring himself.

We already had a pretty good idea that Fabbri could score–he’s averaging roughly a goal every four games through his first 46 NHL contests–but since he joined Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera on the Blues’ new top line in early January, he’s also proven that he can dish out the assists. Perhaps the best example of that came on January 16, when Fabbri set up a spectacular play during 3-on-3 overtime against the Montreal Canadiens that allowed Lehtera to score and give the Blues the win.

The interesting thing to monitor going forward will be whether Fabbri can avoid hitting the rookie wall and remain an imposing playmaker down the stretch. Fabbri, who had played just three professional games–all at the AHL level–before this season, hasn’t played a schedule anything like the NHL’s 82-gamer since he played for the Mississauga Rebels in his early teens. It’s going to be a major adjustment for him, and there’s going to need to be work put in from both coach Ken Hitchcock and Fabbri himself to make it work. The Blues shouldn’t bank on Fabbri continuing to be one of the team’s top contributors for the rest of the year, but if he can do it he’ll be a major weapon come playoff time.

Next: Joel Edmundson