Photo Credit: Katelynn Reiss
Joel Farabee’s 2022-23 season can be described as up and down, marred by frustrations due to recovery from an injury. Farabee was unable to train properly, as he normally would do to restrictions while recovering from surgery, “It’s never easy when you try to get ready for a season in probably four, five weeks I think it was,” Farabee said at his exit interview.
Farabee continues, “I honestly felt really good with my body and things like that. I think probably weight wise I would have liked to probably be a little heavier coming into the season, but you just try to manage it that way.”
He finished the season with 15 goals and 24 assists, but there was a sense of frustrations at times after a dry spell of points. This type of season was to be expected after having major summer surgery on his neck in the Summer. However, Farabee is a perfectionist and he knows his craft well, so when he can’t perform at a level he knows he can play at, a sense of frustrations obviously ensued.
Through all of this, what Farabee has proven to the fans of Philadelphia is that the Flyers should build around him. Drafted by the Flyers in 2018 at 14th overall, Farabee has seen action with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the big club, where he torched his opponents.
Former Flyers Head Coach Alain Vigneault had nothing but praise for Farabee, “It looks like he can handle the scrutiny that the NHL comes with. He’s going out there and playing hard. In my mind, he’s got skill and upside and hopefully he can be a real good player for us.”
Farabee’s style of play resonates with Flyers fans. He plays a 200 foot game, and is just so darn good at killing penalties. It becomes very attractive to stay up with the big club for good, based off those reasons alone. Killing penalties is a crucial attribute to have, and Farabee does it well.
What Farabee also brings is skating, and typically you know if he is a confident player with the way he skates. Farabee can skate at top speeds to push the play up the ice. He’s proven time and time again he is an excellent skater, with the agility and edge work to get by defenders in one-on-one situations, and he also possesses a great first step. Farabee is an outstanding playmaker off the wing, who possesses great vision of the ice. He is also a good defender, as Farabee remains focused and poised at killing penalties
If Farabee is able to return to a high level this coming season, who knows how far the Flyers could go. This young Flyers team would surely benefit from the old Farabee, “I read a lot of stuff on Twitter and things like that,” Farabee said. “And you know, a lot of people are writing us off again already.”
