After being claimed off waivers by the Blue Jackets, defenseman Dante Fabbro has found a home in Columbus.
Beginning his career with the Nashville Predators, he tallied 16 goals and 72 points across 315 games. Shortly after the 2024-25 season began, he was picked up by the Blue Jackets and quickly solidified his spot playing next to Zach Werenski for the majority of the next 62 games, setting single-season career highs of nine goals and 26 points.
He proved to be a reliable presence on the blue line, earning a four-year contract extension through the 2028-29 season.
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Fabbro spoke with BlueJackets.com early in camp about his summer, settling into Columbus and playoff expectations. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
BlueJackets.com: First things first, how was your summer?
Fabbro: “It was busy. Felt really short, which was actually good and bad, but it was good.”
You're from British Columbia; do you go back there during the offseason?
“Yeah, Vancouver. I spent about a month right after the season in Nashville, just kind of packing up the house a little bit. And then I went back to Vancouver for about two and a half months, living the lake life. It's a blast. I've been doing that ever since I was a little kid, and I get to see all the family and everything like that. It's probably the first summer I've been back for that long in probably six or seven years.”
Did you get to travel at all? Any highlights?
“Nothing outside of North America. I went down to Florida, like (Scenic Highway) 30A, the panhandle. I went down to Grayton Beach with my girlfriend's family for about five days. And then, other than that, just Vancouver, and then my cabin, which is like three and a half hours northeast of (Vancouver) and right on the water, like a big lake there. So just lots of boating and surfing and stuff like that.”
Do you like being on the water?
“Yeah, it's the best. I like the lakes. I'm not a big ocean guy.”
This will obviously be your first full season here in Columbus. Are you finally feeling more settled and familiar with organization?
“For sure. I mean, the time when I came, obviously, the season had started. Training camp is over, about a month into the season already, so jumping kind of into that and, you know, meeting new faces. I was lucky that I've played with a few guys here before and just familiar with some guys from back home and even some of the coaching staff. I kind of knew them a little bit from Nashville days and stuff like that. But for the most part, it was a pretty smooth transition, and obviously coming into this year comfortable with everything definitely makes things a lot easier not having to try and remember people's names and all that kind of stuff.”
Are you finally out of Nashville and you're all settled?
“Not completely. I still have my place down there, so my sister's now living in it. Well, she has been living in it while I was there too, but it's currently just her spot now, so she gets all the freedom to do whatever she wants. I think I'll probably keep that place for a long time, but yeah, it's just nice because I don't really have a home base, and I've had that place for five and a half, six years now. It's nice to go back and be able to drop all your stuff off, pack a suitcase and go back home for a little bit.”
What are your favorite parts about Columbus? Places to eat, things to do?
“I'm currently living in German Village, so obviously lots of walking and really good restaurants over there. A couple staples are, obviously, Lindey’s and Cento. I'm still trying a bunch of different spots out. I love Club 185. I've tried quite a few others, but those are kind of the three staples so far.”
With your new contract extension, how are you looking forward to this year with a greater sense of stability?
“It's definitely nice having that, but I don't think it really changes anything. Maybe people might feel comfortable, in a sense; obviously, it's nice knowing that I'm going to be here. For myself, at least, I (have) to play with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder and continue to progress from what I did last year to help the team win in any facet I can. Obviously playing with (Werenski) helps; he's such a great player. He fell short of winning the Norris (Trophy) last year, so it would be awesome to try and see him do it again this year. With that comes team success and wanting our team to get into the playoffs and really make a push this year for the Stanley Cup.”
You mentioned Zach, how much do you enjoy playing with him? What's your relationship like with him?
“It's great. I think we've just grown so much as a pairing. You can really tell now, we read each other really well. A big part of my game is transitioning the puck and playing really hard defensively and joining when I can. With him, he's kind of freewheeling, but he's really sound positionally as well. I just want to try and open him up to let him go do his thing and try to help him out when I can. He's a fun player to watch and definitely really fun to play with. It's been awesome so far.”
I heard you had to put some patio furniture together recently and maybe struggled with that a little bit?
“Yeah, absolute disaster. It took my girlfriend and I – well actually, I built the first one and then I was like, ‘Hey, (do) you want to come help me?’ So she did, but it still took us about two and a half hours to put all these things together. It wasn't fun. My back was killing me. We got it done, and then the next day the table came in, so I had to assemble that. I didn't have a power tool, so I was using a regular screwdriver, and my forearms were killing me. I couldn't even shoot the puck yesterday. (I) felt a little better today. It's all finished now.”
