Red Wings 2022-23 Wrap-Up: Robby Fabbri

DETROIT -- Moving forward, Robby Fabbri has plenty of optimism for himself and the Detroit Red Wings.

After recovering from his third career ACL tear, Fabbri made his 2022-23 season debut on Jan. 4, on the way to recording 16 points (7-9-16) in 28 games before sustaining a lower-body injury against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 8. The 27-year-old forward underwent surgery later that month, sidelining him for Detroit's final 17 games of the campaign.

Despite his injury-shortened season, Fabbri was proud of his accomplishments.

"I put in a lot of hard work," Fabbri said in his end-of-media session. "A lot of days to be ready and be in the best shape possible coming back. I think coming in with everyone in mid-season form, team's rolling and I'm just trying to find my game, I thought I did a really good job. Obviously had some ups and downs in little stretches throughout the 28 games, but I was happy coming in, being able to produce, play my game, get some reps in and feel good going into the summer."

When reflecting on his surgery, Fabbri said he weighed several options with the Red Wings medical staff before concluding "a quick clean-up" made the most sense.

"At the end of the day, with this one, it was more just about the timing of when it happened, where we were at in the standings and how many games we had left," Fabbri said. "After the original injury, I was back skating, working out and trying to get over the hump so we could do this clean-up in the summer.

"Unfortunately, the way the rehab was going right after the injury, we only had a handful of games left. As a group here, we made a decision that going into the summer healthy was gonna be a better call."

Playing meaningful games down the stretch of the season in a competitive Eastern Conference playoff race last season was a valuable experience, according to Fabbri.

"For myself, coming back, all those games meant a lot," Fabbri said. "And to have those games mean a lot for as long as we had them has been different than what we've had here in previous years. Just to even get that little experience of what it takes to play playoff hockey, although it wasn't playoffs, but we had the intentions of playing it like that. It was good for everyone on the team top to bottom."

Fabbri said he will be ready for the start of training camp next month. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound forward is excited for the Red Wings to continue the momentum they gained last season.

"We knew what made us successful this [past] year and we hammered that away in the room, practice and on the ice," Fabbri said. "Day 1 of training camp we're just gonna pick right back up, so I think that's gonna help."