ST. LOUIS -- The first call, of course, was to his parents. After St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong told 19-year-old Robby Fabbri he’d made the team earlier this week, Armstrong also shared a little advice: Enjoy this moment, because it’s a special one.

So Fabbri did. He called home. He got on FaceTime with his parents and celebrated the realization of a dream.

Another big conversation happened on Tuesday night. He and longtime friend Connor McDavid chatted about starting the next chapter in their hockey careers -- and doing it on the same sheet of ice in St. Louis.

“It was a pretty good conversation. Pretty cool to experience that together,” Fabbri said after practice on Wednesday. “I’ll probably talk to him before the game tomorrow.”

The eyes of the hockey world will be on the long-awaited NHL debut of McDavid, but in St. Louis, the breakthrough of Fabbri this preseason and the opportunity he’s earned with the Blues is just as important. Coach Ken Hitchcock wants to play a faster, more offensively focused brand of hockey this year, and the addition of Fabbri into the top nine helps accomplish that goal.