Blue Jackets Claim Dante Fabbro Off Waivers from Predators

Less than 16 hours after Elliotte Friedman said he didn’t think Dante Fabbro would get claimed by an NHL team because of his $2.5 million salary cap hit, the Columbus Blue Jackets claimed him. The Blue Jackets have ample cap space to make a claim and Fabbro has the ability to be a nice win for the team as they add to a roster that includes Zach Werenski, Damon Severson, Ivan Proverov, and Erik Gudbranson.

There’s a spot for Fabbro on the right side and with $25 million in cap space to try this out as an experiment, the Blue Jackets had practically nothing to lose.

Fabbro has played just six games this season and was on the outs with the Nashville Predators. Still, he has a solid resume of strong production and is on a one-year contract.

It’s not clear how many other teams had interest in Fabbro, but many are assuming the Blue Jackets were not the only claim. But, because of their position in the standings as a lower seed based on winning percentage, Columbus gets priority in a situation like this.

Friedman reported that the Predators had shopped Fabbro around before placing him on waivers in the hopes they could make a trade. That didn’t happen and it sounds like Columbus’ preference was to pay his full $2.5 million salary over giving up assets to acquire him.

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