Blue Jackets sign Dante Fabbro to four-year, $16.5-million contract extension

The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Sunday that the club has signed defenseman Dante Fabbro to a four-year contract extension that carries a $4.125-million average annual value.

Claimed off waivers from the Nashville Predators last November, Fabbro went on to make 62 appearances with the Blue Jackets in which he scored nine times and added 17 assists for 26 points coupled with 40 penalty minutes and a plus-23 rating while averaging almost 22 minutes of ice time per game. Including his time with the Predators, Fabbro closed out the 2024-25 season with 26 points and a plus-20 rating in 68 games.

Originally chosen 17th overall by Nashville in the 2016 NHL Draft, the 27-year-old native of Coquitlam, B.C., has since made 377 career appearances with the Predators and Blue Jackets in which he has collected 25 goals and 73 assists for 98 points. Prior to recording 26 points last season, Fabbro’s previous career high came during the 2021-22 season when he finished with 24 points counting three goals and 21 assists coming in 66 games. Fabbro has also added one point in 17 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

A graduate of the NCAA’s Boston Terriers, Fabbro previously spent three seasons in the collegiate ranks from 2016-19. In his final season, Fabbro finished with a career-high 33 points counting seven goals and 26 assists coming in 38 games. In all, through 112 career contests with the Terriers, Fabbro totaled 22 goals and 58 assists for 80 points and was twice named to Hockey East’s Second All-Star Team.

Fabbro has also seen success in international competition, highlighted by a gold-medal win with Canada at the 2018 World Juniors and a first-place finish at the 2015 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Fabbro also took home silver with Canada at the 2017 World Juniors as well as the 2019 IIHF World Championship.