Joel Farabee has not been able to escape the trade rumours or trade block over the last few years and with his slow start to the 2024-25 season and some interest drawing league-wide, it makes you wonder what his future standing is with the Philadelphia Flyers heading into a pivotal offseason.
Farabee has been a mainstay for the Flyers since his rookie campaign in 2019-20, playing in all but 37 games since. He had a great sophomore season where he collected his first 20-goal season but has struggled since with a mix of injuries and inconsistencies plaguing him throughout.
2020-21 and 2021-22 were down years for practically every member of the team. It was not a fun time to be a player, a fan, or media member with the organization flailing and hanging on by the thinnest of margins. Farabee still managed to produce 37 goals and 72 points in 118 games, giving way to some hope with John Tortorella instilled behind the bench ahead of the 2022-23 season.
Unfortunately, Farabee suffered a neck injury during that summer and was expected to be out until at least November. He made a very quick recovery and made it back in time for the season opener, while also getting a few reps in during the preseason. He managed to miss most of training camp, however, and it showed throughout the season.
It was an uncharacteristic performance from the former first round pick as he managed just 9 goals and 27 points in his first 67 games, which included a ghastly 26-game goalless drought that also saw him net just 4 assists. He broke out of it with a 4-game goal streak and a 5-game point streak and finished the year with 12 points in his final 15 games.
It was a good bounce-back effort because he then registered a career-best season in 2023-24 with 22 goals, 28 assists, and 50 points in another full 82-game slate. However, it didn’t feel like he had that triumphant of a season, which is strange considering a 50-point season in Philadelphia is usually regarded as a great mark in recent years.
This year has been more of the same with inconsistent stretches, which were then followed by consistent streaks. He started the year with points in his first 3 games before going 5 games without a point. Farabee then tallied points in his next 3 games, but has just 1 goal over his last 6. His ice-time has dropped by nearly 2 minutes this year from 16:11 to 14:17 but over his last 6-7 games, he’s back in line with his career averages of 15-16 minutes.
The Flyers are in a unique position where they need to make changes if they want to get out of the rut they’re currently in and the only way to administer those changes is by flipping roster players for roster players. Generally a traditional rebuild would be the move but as evidenced by the last few seasons, it’s obvious the Flyers aren’t going to tear down the pillars like Chicago and San Jose.
Elliotte Friedman alluded to Farabee being a name to monitor over the summer and while the Flyers engaged in conversations over many players, they decided to stand pat and roll with the same lineup heading into 2024-25. However, with several key players needing new contracts next year – albeit as RFAs – cap space starting to become a slight issue, and the Flyers perusing the market for centre depth, Farabee’s name has popped up again.
Anthony Di Marco mentioned that the Minnesota Wild really like Farabee as well as Bobby Brink. The Flyers orchestrated a trade with Minnesota at this year’s draft, swapping one spot and allowing the Wild to draft Zeev Buium after the Flyers selected Jett Luchanko. The Flyers have also had great interest in Marco Rossi and had engaged in some conversations over Cutter Gauthier before he was dealt to Anaheim.
The Wild seem like a willing and able dance partner with the Flyers, which always helps when there’s some familiarity. Di Marco mentions that they aren’t too keen on Farabee’s contract, which would be problematic for them this year with nearly $15 million of their cap space being attributed to dead money on the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.
They currently have about $828,000 in cap space right now but that number jumps to almost $20 million next year factoring in the projected salary cap of $92 million. The Wild also don’t have much roster turnover either with just Marcus Johansson, Jon Merrill, Declan Chisholm, and Marc-André Fleury playing on expiring contracts.
Rossi is going to be an RFA, which could bode well for the Flyers if they still hold interest in the Austrian. It remains to be seen what a deal could look like between the two clubs, but Farabee still has 3 years remaining on his contract with a $5 million AAV.
The Flyers’ cap space has also become a little bit of a problem once again as they currently stand to have around $16 million with the projected cap being around $92 million for next year. They have Cam York, Tyson Foerster, Morgan Frost, and Noah Cates on expiring RFA contracts and they should command most of the remaining cap space, if not all of it – should they bring them all back into the fold.
That’s why names like Farabee, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Scott Laughton will become more frequented from now to the trade deadline and into the offseason. If the Flyers want to make any changes they’re going to have to free-up cap space and the aforementioned trio combine for just over $13.1 million.
The Flyers have to be pleased with what they’ve seen in Ristolainen this year and that has inadvertently increased his interest league-wide. Emil Andrae has also done a fantastic job at the NHL-level and should be penciled in as an everyday starter moving forward when healthy, giving way to a possible departure of a defenseman for next year.
Laughton and Farabee have been in the rumour mill for quite some time but the former has more to do with the supposed rebuild than the latter. Farabee’s name being dangled is more so linked to a “hockey trade” than acquiring picks and prospects and should the Wild continue to sniff around, look for Daniel Brière and company to inquire about Rossi.
Farabee still has time to turn back the clock and change the course of time but he’s behind the 8-ball if he can’t deliver consistent stretches with Tortorella behind the bench and possibly having some sway in decisions.
However in saying that, Tortorella mentioned earlier Monday that he is looking to give Farabee power play time and more of an offensive role moving forward. He’s liked what he has seen from him in recent games and wants to reward that.
Farabee has been an even-strength machine throughout his young career with just 7 power play goals and 16 power assists to his name in 352 games. The power play has been a sore spot for the Flyers over the last 3 years and a lot of the players have suffered because of it. He also hasn’t had as many opportunities with the extra man compared to others like Owen Tippett (207 minutes last year) and Travis Konecny (227 minutes) – compared to his 187 minutes (which was a career-high).
Relegated to third line duties over the last few years, Farabee has done pretty well, considering all the things going against him at times. Nevertheless, the Flyers could be looking to make changes this summer and the rest of the league is fully aware.
To get a good player, you have to give up a good player, and the Flyers might not have much of a choice when it comes to Farabee, but that is if they want to make changes and get out of the rut they’ve been in for quite some time now.
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