Philadelphia Flyers sign 2018 first-round pick Joel Farabee

After drafting Joel Farabee in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers are close to signing him to his entry level deal. 

The Philadelphia Flyers season has been a disappointment, to say the least. However, they have a reason for hope thanks to a core of young players, led by Sean Couturier and Carter Hart. Their young core has added one more member in Joel Farabee

Frank Seravalli was the first to report the Flyers are close to signing their 2018 first-round pick. They selected him with the 14th overall pick. This pick originally belonged to the St. Louis Blues, but they traded it to the Flyers in the Brayden Schenn trade.

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Joel Farabee is coming off an impressive season for Boston University. In his lone season with the Terriers, he led the team in points with 36 points in 37 games. Farabee also led Boston University in goals with 17 and finished second to defenseman Dante Fabbro in assists with 19.

Additionally, he had a strong showing for Team USA at the World Juniors, posting five points in seven games. Farabee has proven he doesn’t really have much else to learn from playing in college, so he’s ready to take the next step.

What’s The Next Step?

The next step isn’t going to be a popular one, but it likely involves Farabee going to the AHL. Traditionally, the Flyers have been pretty conservative with their prospects, which is usually the right move. It’s better to let a prospect marinate a bit too long than to rush them.

Remember, back in 2015-16, they loved Shayne Gostisbehere even after he was coming off an ACL tear. But the Flyers still sent him down and waited for him to prove he was ready. Once Gostisbehere got a chance, he ran with it.

While the Flyers weren’t that patient with Hart, he’s a special circumstance. Philadelphia needed a goalie and he was quite literally their last option. Also, Hart was thought of as a top-notch prospect and believed to be very close to NHL ready when they called him up in November. He’s the exception, not the rule.

Farabee still has to work on his overall game. He’s an aggressive and active player, which is great. However, Farabee is prone to penalties, tallying 57 in 37 games with Boston University. Even in his draft year, in 88 games, he had 62 penalty minutes in a relatively non-physical league.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see him get an extended look to start next season. Farabee is very skilled and it will be tempting for the Flyers to keep him up in the NHL from the get go. However, unless he’ll be getting at least third-line minutes, it’s hard to see how this would be beneficial for him.

At the very least, keeping Farabee in the AHL for at least one year will get him prepared for the grueling schedule of the NHL. He proved in his draft year he can play a ton of games in a season. However, it’s one thing to do it against your peers. Doing it against grown men is quite another.

Farabee’s clearly ready for the next step. He’s done just about everything he can do against his own peers. Farabee possesses the necessary skill set to be a regular NHL player and with his well-rounded game, expect him to be a regular contributor as a second-line or third-line forward down the road. He could be a regular member of the Flyers lineup as soon as the 2020-21 season.