St. Louis Blues to try Robby Fabbri at center in training camp

With the Blues seeking a third-line center followingPatrik Berglund‘s injury,Robby Fabbrimay get a chance to play his natural position.

AsNHL.com’s Lou Korac tweetedon Wednesday, St. Louis Blues head coach Mike Yeo is interested in giving forward Robby Fabbri a look at center during training camp this September. Fabbri was drafted as a center, but hasn’t played the position since playing for the Guelph Storm of the OHL in 2014-15. He’s found significant success as a wing in the NHL, averaging a point every other contest over the first 123 games of his NHL career.

The Blues will have an increased need for a center during the first half of the season, asit was announced on Wednesdaythat Patrik Berglund will be out until December following surgery to repair a dislocated shoulder.Paul Stastnyand newly-acquiredBrayden Schennare likely to be the Blues’ top two centers, butVladimir Sobotka,Ivan Barbashev, Zach Sanford, and now Fabbri will be among the players considered for the third-line center position.

The Blues will reportedly be cautious with the experiment so that Fabbri’s recovery from atorn ACL he suffered in Februaryis not interrupted.

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He’s expected to be fully cleared for training camp, but it’d be understandable if the 21-year-old forward–who relies on a speed-and-skill-based game to find success–felt the need to take things slower than usual as he works his way back into game shape.

It’s worth noting that the Blues have conducted plenty of these experiments in the past without really following through with them over the long term. They’ve triedDmitrij Jaskinat center for the past couple training camps, but he’s only gotten a few games’ worth of action at the position whenKyle Brodziakhas been injured. The same goes forJaden Schwartz, who has gotten work up the middle during the past two camps but played center for only a few games during the 2016-17 season. Theyeven briefly exploredthe idea of using Fabbri at center during training camp last year, but after just a couple days they decided not to follow through with that experiment.

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With that said, Jaskin and Schwartz actually did end up playing center during the regular season–however briefly it may have been–so if the Blues’ latest experiment gives them more flexibility when injuries undoubtedly occur, there’s little reason not to try it.

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