Philadelphia Flyers: It’s Joel Farabee’s time to shine

It’s go time for Philadelphia Flyers’ wing Joel Farabee.

Joel Farabee knew his chance would come this postseason.

After being left off the lineup for the Philadelphia Flyers‘ Round Robin opening victory over the Bruins, it appears he will now get his chance. Farabee is set to join the lineup for Thursday’s matchup with the Capitals after the Flyers lost Michael Raffl to what is believed to be a lower-body injury in the postseasons opening game.

In the midst of the Flyers’ 4-1 win on Sunday against the Bruins, Raffl found himself having a fantastic game. He was forced to leave the ice with 6 minutes and 17 seconds left to play after a collision with Bruin Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. The argument can be made that Raffl was the Flyers’ best offensive forward on Sunday, as he chipped in a goal and an assist while going +2 in a little over 10 minutes of time on the ice.

Losing Raffl hurts, but having a player like Farabee to replace him in the lineup is not a luxury the Flyers have had in recent years. In fact, the Flyers depth as a whole is one of the main reasons they find themselves in the position they are in. It is even more impressive when you consider the Flyers are already without Oskar Lindblom and Nolan Patrick, both of whom have the ability to be productive top-six players.

Farabee, a first-round pick (14th overall) in the 2018 draft, is an incredibly skilled player. Ideally, the Flyers would love to have him skate in the top six. However, with how well those top 2 lines are playing, it’s more likely we will see Farabee slot somewhere in the bottom six. Farabee will probably slide right into Raffl’s spot in the lineup. It is also possible we could see Farabee skate on the 3rd line. It has been made known publicly that Alain Vigneault is not happy with James van Riemsdyk’s play on the 3rd line.

However things shake out, the Flyers are incredibly blessed to be able to insert a player like Joel Farabee into the lineup.