The 24-year-old defenseman could have been a restricted free agent after this season. He has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 56 games.
Fabbro signed a two-year, $4.8 million contract with the Predators on Aug. 5, 2021, to avoid a salary arbitration hearing. The No. 17 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft has 56 points (12 goals, 44 assists) in 230 regular-season games and one assist in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"It's a one-year deal, so both of us will come together," Predators general manager David Poile said. "[Future GM Barry Trotz] will certainly have a sit-down with Dante before the season is over and after the season. We're going to ask him some things to do in his preparation for next year so we're all in with him and hopefully he's all in with us."
The Predators made a bevy of moves before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline at 3 p.m. ET on Friday. Nino Niederreiter was sent to the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 25, Tanner Jeannot to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 26, defenseman Mattias Ekholm to the Edmonton Oilers as part of a package for defenseman Tyson Barrie on Feb. 28 and Mikael Granlund to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 1. The deals gave the Predators 13 picks in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft: two each in the first, second and fifth round, three apiece in the third and fourth, and one in the sixth.
"Just, trading [Ekholm] and where we're going," Poile said. "I think Dante is a young player who has a lot of ability. I'd put him under the umbrella of a lot of players this year, a little bit more inconsistent than he wanted and we wanted. But I think he's got a bright future. I think he's going to get to play a lot more, higher positions now that we've traded [Ekholm] away."
Kevin Lankinen also signed a one-year, $2 million contract with Nashville. The 27-year-old goalie could have become an unrestricted free agent after the season and is 7-5-0 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in 14 games (13 starts) as the backup to Juuse Saros. Lankinen signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Predators on July 14, 2022 after playing his first two NHL seasons for the Chicago Blackhawks.
"Our goaltending tandem of [Saros] and Lankinen has been terrific, so we're very happy that we bring that back next year as well," Poile said. "Their chemistry is great. We had the great chemistry between [Pekka Rinne] and [Saros], and now we have the same great chemistry and great goaltending with [Saros] and Kevin Lankinen. His performance spoke for itself last night (30 saves in a 2-1 win against the Florida Panthers)."
Signed by the Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent May 21, 2018, Lankinen is 32-34-12 with a 3.12 GAA, .905 save percentage and two shutouts in 83 NHL games (79 starts).
Nashville (30-23-6) is six points behind the Winnipeg for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, with two games in hand. Trotz will take over as GM on July 1 for Poile, who has held the position since the Predators joined the NHL in 1997.
NHL.com independent correspondent John Glennon contributed to this report
