Robby Fabbri to miss four weeks with lower-body injury

According to Detroit Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde, forward Robby Fabbri will miss four weeks with a lower-body injury. The team clarified that the injury is not knee-related.

Injuries throughout his career have plagued Fabbri. After getting rafted 21st overall in 2014, Fabbri has dealt with at least one injury every single year. He missed all of 2017-18 with a torn ACL and four other knee-related issues, including missing 35 games to start 2022-23.

Fabbri’s latest injury is a blow for a player who scored in his season debut on Oct. 12 against New Jersey. He hasn’t played a game since. Last year, Fabbri played some of the best hockey of his career, but was limited to 16 points in 28 games with the Red Wings. He had 30 points in 56 games in 2021-22, just slightly below his career-best of 37 he set with a rookie with St. Louis in 2015-16.

Originally a St. Louis Blues product, Fabbri has 169 points in 331 games over nine seasons. When healthy, Fabbri has proven to be a solid middle-six scorer, but he hasn’t eclipsed the 60-game mark since his 72-game rookie season.

The Red Wings are currently 3-1 on the season with wins over Tampa Bay, Columbus and Pittsburgh. It’s a strong start for a team that showed some promise during the preseason, but most still expected to be near the bottom of the standings. The Wings will travel to Ottawa for a 1:00 PM ET start on Saturday before returning home to host Calgary on Sunday. Detroit will then face Seattle, Winnipeg and Boston next week as they look to keep the hot streak going.