I really don’t know what to expect from Fabbri next year.
But,
1) He looks like his knee isn’t the problem. His speed and burst look like close to what he’s always had.
2) I don’t get the opinion to trade him. He’s not worth anything significant in return until he shows he can play an effective NHL game again. I would only trade him if it looks like he’ll be unable to make ace the 23 man roster in camp next year.
This is why it's irrational to trade him away. The fact that his speed and acceleration don't seem to be impaired shows that his problems are more related to the fact that his timing is way off because he's played only a few NHL games over the last 2 whole years. He has the instincts and muscle memory-related expectations of where he was (what his body did related to his brain's commands over the 3 full years before his injury. But, his body doesn't get him there. He has to work to "get up to speed". THAT's where that term came from. The NHL level is the highest level in The World. Reactions need to be the fastest of any level. It takes a lot of time playing to get back to that level. If you've ever played organised hockey at a fairly high level from late teens on, and missed several weeks or more of playing, you know it takes time to get your timing back. Or, if you've ever played while being sick, or fighting off an illness, you know how your body's memory tells you where your body or your swing on a shot, "should be" at any given instant, - but your body, or shot, or pass doesn't get where it should, because you can't skate as fast, or react to stimuli as fast, because your body is weaker and moving slower (to conserve strength and energy to fight off the illness. Once your timing is off (either by injury or long period of illness, it takes time to get it back to where it should be. At The NHL level, all the practices you can ever have won't get you ALL the way back to NHL game level. You'll still need to get in full minutes in 25-35 consecutive (or nearly) NHL regular season games after complete health returns, AND conditioning is back up to par.
As he is worth almost nothing to other NHL teams, until they see he has playing well at The NHL level for some weeks, it is best for The Blues to keep him as a "prospect". His salary is low enough for them to risk holding a roster space and paying him, to see if when his timing returns, he'll be 90% or more as effective as he was before his injury. That means he should be kept at LEAST through next season's Camp. His skating doesn't seem impaired, to me. He also doesn't seem to be afraid to risk injuring his knee again. I think it's just his having played in very few real league games over the last 2 years, that has him "rusty". When his timing is back, he should win a lot more races to the puck, be in better position on defence, be in better position to receive passes, trust himself more driving the net, make better passes, shoot better (get shots off faster, and shoot more accurately. When you are more confident from knowing everything is right with your body, timing and overall game, you become better at all facets of the game, and become a more aggressive player, as well. I wouldn't give up on him at the absolute worst time (when he is "worthless" to others-who would just wait for The Blues to release him, to then grab him for nothing). Let's give him a shot next pre-season. The odds of him turning into a solid, productive NHLer over the next 3 seasons, are better than those for most new prospects, and also better than bubble players like Sanford.
