Nashville Predators re-sign defenseman Dante Fabbro, goalie Kevin Lankinen to 1-year deals
The Nashville Predators were busy right up until Friday's 2 p.m. trade deadline, though they weren't only making trades.
In wake of a bevy of deals within the last week, the team announced it had re-signed defenseman Dante Fabbro and backup goalie Kevin Lankinen to one-year contracts. Fabbro's is for $2.5 million and was prompted by the team dealing defenseman Mattias Ekholm on Tuesday. Lankinen's contract is for $2 million.
Fabbro, 24, has one goal and seven assists this season. His 71 hits are second on the team. Last season he set career highs in assists (21) and points (24). He was drafted by the Predators in the first round (17th overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft. He has 12 goals and 44 assists in 230 regular-season games with Nashville.
"Trading (Ekholm) and where we're going," Poile said of the decision to sign Fabbro, who was going to be a restricted free agent after this season. "Dante has a lot of ability. I put him under the umbrella of a lot of players this year — a little bit more inconsistent than we wanted. But I think he's got a bright future. He's going to play a lot more now that we traded (Ekholm)."
Poile said the plan is to talk with Fabbro after the season to "ask some things of him to do in his preparation for next year," and added the team is "all in with him and hopefully he's all in with us."
Lankinen, 27, is 7-5-1 with a .922 save % and a 2.58 goals-against average this season. He was going to be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
The Predators on Friday also traded a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for forward Rasmus Asplund from the Buffalo Sabres.
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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Predators re-sign Dante Fabbro, Kevin Lankinen to 1-year deals
