Philadelphia Flyers Final Player Grades: Joel Farabee

Since the 2019-20 NHL regular season is almost definitely over, we can grade out the performances of each Philadelphia Flyers player. This time we look at Joel Farabee.

The Philadelphia Flyers selected Joel Farabee 14th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, and it’s a credit to the young man that he’s played more NHL games already than 8 of the 13 players picked ahead of him. And all 52 of them, so far, came during this 2019-20 Flyers season. He mostly showed well, with both the hiccups and the energy that you would expect from a 19-year old going on 20, and his place on the team looks secure going forward.

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Farabee didn’t start this year with the Flyers, as they chose to leave him with the Phantoms after a preseason where he looked great but couldn’t find the net. But he was obviously still confident, and he quickly showed that the AHL was beneath him, so he was called up rather quickly as the team looked for a spark.

Farabee was noticeable immediately, even if the points only seemed to trickle in. He picked up his first assist in his second game, and then lit the lamp for his first NHL goal in game #6. It was a clutch one, too, as he tied a game against the Devils in the third period, with the Flyers eventually winning in a shootout.

For most of his time with the team this year, Farabee looked dangerous, but his hallmark might have been near misses. Maybe that’s to be expected with such inexperience, and hopefully all of the shots off the post that seem to have plagued him every game will receive just a tad better placement going forward.

Any evaluation of Farabee’s rookie season isn’t complete without mentioning his low point, which was an ill-advised hit that both crippled the Flyers’ chances in a game against Winnipeg and also cost him a 3-game suspension, although I contend that the punishment was outrageously severe. As a result, he’ll need to walk a fine line for a while since the league can always point to him being a repeat offender if he ever commits another bone-headed hit.

That aside, 2019-20 was a year of positive growth for the young Farabee, and it seems like he can be an impact player among the team’s top-6 forward group as soon as next year, depending on the makeup of the team. But no matter how the Flyers want to utilize him in the near term, he’s already a legitimate NHL player, and it looks like the ceiling is quite high for the youngest member of the Orange and Black.

C+. <strong>There’s not much more you could have expected from such a raw talent as Joel Farabee, even though he didn’t blow anyone away with his scoring numbers. More important than goals and assists is the fact that he showed he belonged, and he looks like he will form part of an exciting core for years to come. This rookie year was a nice building block.</strong>. LW. Philadelphia Flyers. JOEL FARABEE

Next. Flyers Grades: Jakub Voracek. dark

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