Detroit Red Wings weighing options: former forward returning to fulfil top line role?

The Detroit Red Wings will begin training camp in a month, and with a hole in the top line, we're left pondering who will fulfill that role.

It seems unlikely that Mason McTavish is that guy for the Red Wings, so the team will have to shift its priorities and go for a different option. Robby Fabbri, who was once a Detroit Red Wing.

While Yzerman has prioritized keeping the line of Marco Kasper, Patrick Kane, and Alex DeBrincat intact, he has to look at other spots in the lineup.

It could mean promoting a prospect, or acquiring another forward in trade or free agency.

With the Red Wings unlikely to give Mason McTavish an offer sheet, an intriguing option remains in Robby Fabbri, who once suited up as a Red Wing.

Though he'd only suit up for 44 games of action in Anaheim last season, he could return to the ice healthy in 2025-26.

Fabbri was a forward who found himself in a productive role from 2020 to 2024, scoring 127 points (61-66) in 234 games as a Red Wing. In a different scenario, at .54 points per game during his last stint in Detroit, at just under 16 TOI a night, he could find himself in the 40-50 point range here in Hockeytown.

Fabbri would be an affordable option who could be versatile in the Red Wings lineup, capable of being moved where needed.

Fabbri made $4.00 million AAV last season as a Duck and is now a UFA. All Steve Yzerman has to do is offer him a contract.