Philadelphia Flyers 2024-25 Player Preview: Joel Farabee

One of the most fun things about watching sports is seeing a young player start to click. You see a guy who comes in with certain expectations attached to him do well. Over time, they have some setbacks and struggles, but they keep coming back. And little by little, they start to get better. This is the story of Flyers' forward Joel Farabee. So far, he has done a little bit better every season he has played. So the question remains, how high is his ceiling? How much better can he get?

Farabee was the Flyers first rounder in 2018, the 18th overall pick. The Syracuse native became a full-time Flyer one year later, scoring eight goals with 13 assists. The following season, he hit the 20-goal mark for the first time. Two years later, he had his first career setback. While training in the offseason, he injured his neck and required surgery.

It was thought that he might miss time to start the season. He didn't, however, the time away from training camp did push him back a bit. It took him a while to find his legs. Stats-wise, it was a down year for him as he only scored 15 goals, yet he recorded a then-career-high of 24 assists.

Joel Farabee has improved as the years have gone one

He came back and wanted to prove he still belonged. This past season, he scored 22 goals, set a new career-high with 28 assists, and hit the 50-point plateau for the first time. It was a great season, stats-wise. But there was some drama.

There was the story that the year before, his agent was upset at a lack of playing time and how he was treated. John Tortorella and Joel Farabee both quickly denied these allegations. Then this past season, Farabee was benched. There were rumors that the Flyers were trying to move Farabee around the time of the draft. Was there truth to rumors or was it just speculation? Who knows?

All we know is that Farabee is still here. When he has hit the ice for the Flyers, he has played well. He is signed up for $6 million a season until 2028. All the word from Farabee and his coach suggests that he is happy here and his situation in Philly seems less tense than it does with Morgan Frost.

Farabee could easily be one of those guys paired up with Matvei Michkov. If so, we could see that lamp lit a lot more. He could become better on the power play (only five of his fifty points were on the man advantage). Well heck, most of this team could. He is still just 24 years old. He hasn't hit his prime yet. He could be the next big star on this team.