Joel Farabee was supposed to be coronated the next top guy of the Philadelphia Flyers after Claude Giroux’s departure, even receiving a blessing from the former captain himself who told Farabee to “break all my records” on his way out the door. And while not that long ago Farabee seemed to be in line to fill his shoes, a string of various injuries and underwhelming play has thrown doubt into his ability to be the next leader of the franchise.
Now, the Flyers have reached a crossroads with Farabee. Trade rumors bubbled up during the 2024 offseason that the player may be on the block, and even though they never came to fruition, it may have indicated that his leash was short. With his unspectacular start to the 2024-25 season, the question of whether or not they look to trade Farabee has once again emerged.
Keep
Quite frankly, there’s not many overwhelming reasons to keep Farabee. His early career was marred by various injuries, with the crescendo coming in the 2022 offseason when he had disk replacement surgery in his neck. But he’s played two full 82-game seasons since then and while there has been slight progress on the score sheet, it hasn’t been enough to stave off the trade rumors.
Does Farabee have more to give on a team with proper center depth and a stronger overall offense? Yeah, probably, but it’s growing clear that that isn’t going to happen in Philadelphia. And if a center is ever added, Farabee is falling down the priority list to jump start, with guys like Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Own Tippett and Travis Konecny all more critical pieces.
His career best of 22 goals and 50 points during the 2023-24 season was a fine achievement considering it was the first uninjured season of his career, but it was the only time he broke the 40-point plateau, the second time in five seasons he hit 20 goals and is not on pace to even match last year’s total through 20 games in 2024-25.
Trade
The Flyers have made a recent string of questionable financial decisions when it comes to extensions, and with Cam York’s deal looming large in 2025, They’re going to need to clear so funds to make that new contract happen.
While it’s the biggest reason to trade Farabee, it’s simultaneously the biggest hurdle. Chuck Fletcher inked the then-21-year-old to a six-year, $30 million extension back in September of 2021 that kicked in during 2022-23. It was a deal that was supposed to end up being team-friendly as Farabee ascended to stardom, but fast forward to today and the soon-to-be 25-year-old still has three additional years left on that contract with a $5 million cap hit and that meteoric career rise hasn’t happened.
If Farabee settles in and ultimately tops out around the 20-goal, 50-point plateau, a $5 million aav isn’t necessarily egregious, but it’s certainly not great value either.
But it’s money that needs to be better allocated. Especially with Tippett’s $6.2 million extension now in play as well as Konecny’s new $8.75 million cap hit kicking in next season, the money they dumped into the wingers is comically lopsided and the only way to alleviate some of that is by dealing Farabee.
Conclusion
The Flyers have a quantity over quality problem and no where is that more apparent than their collection of 50-point middle-six wingers.
If you noticed, we didn’t even talk much about Farabee’s skillset. It’s because it ultimately doesn’t particularly matter in this case. He’s not worthless, but he doesn’t bring enough to the table to differentiate himself from the rest of the wingers on the team.
Do the Flyers trade Joel Farabee sometime between now and the offseason? There certainly seems to be some smoke to this fire, albeit the feeling that it won’t be the easiest swap to accomplish. The contract complicates the middle-of-the-road production to this point in his career, but the idea that he’s young enough with raw, untapped potential could lead to a team taking the risk and acquiring him.
There were rumors during the 2024 offseason that Farbaee was on the block, but because the organization shied away from doing anything of note, they didn’t feel the pressure to move him. Now, especially if the Flyers don’t make the playoffs, the 2025 offseason will need to be significantly more productive if the front office wants to keep the pitchforks and torches from a weary fanbase at bay.
Sorting through the middling roster and making tough decisions is going to validate Briere’s ability as a GM. And 2025 will put him to the test when it comes to evaluating, and more importantly, executing his vision for the Flyers moving forward.
They’re going to have to get creative when it comes to finding centers, and swapping Farabee for another player in their mid-20s on a similar contract but has the capability of playing down the middle may be the best way to go for the Flyers. It may not “solve” the growing concern at center, but it’s a step to addressing the hole.
Joel Farabee had his chance to brag the brass ring in Philadelphia but it just never materialized. And now the crunch is on elsewhere on the roster and the team can’t keep everybody. Farabee is atop the list of players that they may need to move on from if for no other reason than to clear cap space and/or properly address other holes at forward. Now it’s just a question of whether or not Briere has the skills to step up and make a bonafide net-positive main roster trade.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: Getty Images
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