Gianni Fairbrother
2018-19 Team: Everett Silvertips (WHL)
Date of Birth: September 30, 2000
Place of Birth: North Vancouver, BC
Ht: 6-foot Wt: 194 pounds
Shoots: Left
Position: D
NHL Draft Eligibility: 2019 first-year eligible
Rankings
- NHL Central Scouting: 50
- The Hockey Writers (Pike’s Picks): 95
- Future Considerations: 79
- McKeen’s Hockey: 77
After separating his shoulder in a fight last season, and only playing in 33 regular season games, Fairbrother is coming off of a breakout year for a strong Everett team.
The 18-year-old defenseman tallied 10 goals and 26 assists in 64 regular season games. In addition to those 36 points, he finished with a plus-minus rating of plus-23 and was in the penalty box for 83 minutes.
Fairbrother is a strong skater with solid overall mobility. His skating allows him to jump in on the rush, but most importantly it allows him to defend very well off the rush against speedy opponents. He is not an extremely flashy player, but he makes the simple plays to keep the puck moving forward, while limiting turnovers.
This past season, the Silvertips counted on Fairbrother in all situations, as the young defenseman played on the penalty kill and saw some time on the team’s second powerplay unit.
As much as the NHL is trending more towards pure skill and offence, it should be noted that Fairbrother is not afraid to drop the gloves and play a physical game.
Gianni Fairbrother – NHL Draft Projection
Based off the rankings he projects as a third or fourth rounder, but Fairbrother is one of my favourite players outside the first round and if I had a late second round pick I wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.
Quotables
“After missing the cutoff for the 2018 NHL Draft by 15 days, Fairbrother has used the extra year to his advantage, coming in at 50th on NHL Central Scouting’s rankings of North American skaters” –Robert Murray/Western Hockey League
Strengths
- Skating
- Shot
- Puck Management
Under Construction (Improvements to Make)
- Creativity
Other THW Draft Profiles
NHL Potential
Fairbrother plays a reliable two-way game on a consistent basis and is someone who coaches can trust to make the smart play. Right now he projects as a bottom pairing defenseman, but if he can add some jump and creativity to his game the sky is the limit for the young defenseman.
Risk-Reward Analysis
Risk – 3/5 | Reward 3.5/5
Fantasy Hockey Potential
Offence – 7/10 | Defence – 8/10
Awards/Achievements
Fairbrother has improved substantially in this past two years alone, setting himself a career high in goals this past season (2018-19) with the Silvertips with 10 goals, 26 assists, and 36 points in 64 games, which is a vast improvement over his 2017-18 totals of two goals and three assists in 33 games played. It should be noted that he suffered a shoulder injury between this time period that sidelined him for three months, making his leaps forward all the more impressive.