At the 2014 draft, if you'll remember, the Chicago Blackhawks traded up one spot in front of the Blues believing they were going to take Nick Schmaltz. The Blues ended up taking Fabbri with the next pick.

I remember a lot of people(on the other forum at the time) laughing at the Hawks for doing so and jumping for joy that we got Fabbri.

In hindsight, would you rather have Fabbri or would you prefer Schmaltz now?

It's kind of a toss up for me, but I think I'd take Schmaltz, mainly because the tiebreaker is he is playing center in the NHL. If he's good enough to center Kane, he's good enough to center Tarasenko.

Fabbri all the way. Fabbri is still an option for center down the road.

NHLTIM wrote:Fabbri all the way. Fabbri is still an option for center down the road.

Robby, we're thinking about trying you out at center, but first can you please step on the scale? .... Thanks .... Hmmmm.... Never mind, you're a wing.

I'm still glad we drafted Fabbri, he showed in his rookie year that as an undersized 20 year old he was an impact player in the playoffs and had those 15 points in 20 games.
I really hope Fabbri can transition to center in the near future, that would be so awesome and a huge advantage for the Blues.

Nick Schmaltz seems pretty good so far. If coach Q is putting him with the Hawk's best players he must be doing something right.

Hard to pass on Fabbri considering his playoffs last year.

I thought Schmaltz was mainly playing wing? Aren't the Hawks going Toews-Anisimov-Kruger-Kero?

I think Schmaltz has been up and down a bit this year between the NHL and the AHL as well.

fabbri was the only guy who seemed like he gave a shit many games. he can take a beating & still make the play. as he gets bigger he's only going to be better. i have no problem with fabbri.

I'd still go Fabbri. I think Schmaltz has played majority of his games at wing.
Fabbri is also one of our only guys who rarely looks like he's just coasting and not giving 100%.
You can split hairs between the two but as of now I take Fabbri. In 3-4 years who knows. Not a huge fan of revisionist history tbh.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:At the 2014 draft, if you'll remember, the Chicago Blackhawks traded up one spot in front of the Blues believing they were going to take Nick Schmaltz. The Blues ended up taking Fabbri with the next pick.

I remember a lot of people(on the other forum at the time) laughing at the Hawks for doing so and jumping for joy that we got Fabbri.

In hindsight, would you rather have Fabbri or would you prefer Schmaltz now?

It's kind of a toss up for me, but I think I'd take Schmaltz, mainly because the tiebreaker is he is playing center in the NHL. If he's good enough to center Kane, he's good enough to center Tarasenko.

Lehtera has been Tarasenko's center for quite some time, so just because a player is a superstar's centre, doesn't mean that player is overly good.

Centering Kane / Tarasenko makes the game much much easier. I'd still take Fabbri

I'll just call it another win for the amateur scouts. Looks like both Plans A and B are already making solid contributions less than 3 years removed from their draft year. Not bad for late first round picks. I wonder if Plan C was David Pastrnak.