Philadelphia Flyers: Did Joel Farabee have a successful first season?

Joel Farabee was on the Flyers roster more often than not. But would it be considered a successful first season?

The Flyers drafted Joel Farabee with the 14th pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. He spent the next season as a freshman at Boston University. He impressed so much in his first season, being named Rookie of the Year, that he ended up leaving after just one season.

Farabee decided to turn pro and fight for a spot on the Flyers. And he impressed during the preseason, doing everything he could but score. So he was sent to the Phantoms to start the season. But it didn’t take long for him to make his way up to the NHL.

He made his debut on October 21st, just ten days after the team sent him to the AHL. Looking for a spark, the Flyers called upon Farabee and he didn’t disappoint. From then on, he stuck with the Flyers, aside from a brief moment at the end of February due to salary issues.

The reset proved to spark Farabee and give him a moment to rest after playing the longest season he had before. The points may not be at a place where it blows anyone away, but it was still the most among all Flyers rookies.

His advanced numbers do leave a bit to be desired, but can be expected from a player in their first season. At 5v5 play, he posted a 49.11 CF%, the third-lowest total among forwards to have played the whole season with the Flyers.

Farabee was among the top-15 when it came to goals for. He posted a 66.67 GF%, an impressive number in his first season. That number was actually above players like Travis Konecny and Kevin Hayes. That is partially due to the situations they were put in and who they played against. It makes more sense to look at his expected percentage which sits at 46.86.

Briefly looking at all strengths, the numbers come up quite a bit. Farabee jumps to 10th with a 52.24 CF%. And he posts a 54.86 xGF%, boosting him to 11th on the team. The goals for goes down, but is likely due to Farabee’s low special team’s time. The number drops to  59.09.

Farabee posted eight goals and 13 assists in his first 52 career games. It won’t win him another Rookie of the Year award, but that is okay. It does put him ahead of quite a few players that were drafted after him, though.

Farabee’s 21 points are more than players such as Filip Zadina, Adam Boqvist and Noah Dobson. They were all taken before him and have roughly played in a similar amount of games. There were three other players drafted before him that have posted a lower point total, but their game size is far below Farabee’s 52.

Farabee ranks sixth among all players drafted that summer. Among that group, he is the only one to have played in just a single season in the NHL.

If you look at points alone, it would be hard to call Farabee’s season a complete success. But that isn’t the only place to look. The eye test says a lot about his season. He proved that he belonged in the NHL. He was the youngest player on the Flyers and with that comes obvious inexperience.

But he showed the Flyers that he has the potential to be an impact player shortly. In that regard, what Farabee did this season can be defined as successful. He showed everyone that he is ready for this league.