Joel Farabee’s promotion to the Flyers’ top line has been long overdue

Joel Farabee had been overdue for a promotion.

The winger has been stapled to the Flyers’ second and third lines this season, despite ranking second on the team in points (27) and goals (12). In the Flyers’ 5-2 loss to Edmonton on Tuesday, Farabee received a call-up to the top line, replacing Owen Tippett on the left wing opposite Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny.

Along with the move came a matchup against Connor McDavid and the Oilers’ top unit for the majority of the game. And while the three-time Hart Trophy winner prevailed this time, netting five points, Farabee’s overall performance looked like it merited an extended stay in his new role.

Farabee, who will turn 24 next month, entered his fifth NHL season with hefty expectations following a healthy offseason — expectations that he’s on track to fulfill. If he continues at his current scoring clip, he’ll shatter his career high of 39 points, set in 2022-23. Through 37 games, Farabee is on pace for 27 goals and 60 points.

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Farabee has seven points in the last five games, including assists on both Flyers goals in Edmonton. According to Natural Stat Trick, his line created four scoring chances, two of which were classified as high-danger.

He showed innate chemistry with Konecny, feeding him on a two-on-one for Konecny’s 18th goal of the year. It was also Farabee’s drop pass to Konecny that set in motion Marc Staal’s game-tying goal in the second period.

“I’ve played with those guys in prior years, so I definitely know their game really well. I just tried to try to use my legs and get them the puck as much as I could,” Farabee said afterward. “I felt like our offense was there, we created a lot of chances, but at the same time, I think we [have] got to be a little more responsible defensively again, especially when playing against McDavid the whole night.”

Konecny (15.3%) and Farabee (14.8%) also account for two of the top three shooting percentages among Flyers forwards. Bobby Brink ranks second with a 14.9 shooting percentage, but over a smaller sample size of 47 shots, compared to Konecny’s 118 and Farabee’s 81.

Flyers coach John Tortorella said postgame that the motivation for the line shuffling was the odd number of forwards, with Nicolas Deslauriers sitting out and the Flyers running with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Tortorella declined to evaluate the performance of the new combination and said he had “no idea what [he’s] going to do in the future.”

Regardless of whether he sticks around at the top, Farabee has already done more with far less.

Despite ranking second on the team in scoring behind Konecny, Farabee is seventh among Flyers forwards in ice time, with an average of 15 minutes, 15 seconds. That’s the lowest amount of ice time that Farabee has averaged since his rookie season in 2019-20, when he skated 14:06 per night.

And on one memorable occasion, Farabee was benched for all but 56 seconds of a game against the Devils on Nov. 30, with Tortorella’s only explanation being that “he didn’t listen.”

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Compare that to Cam Atkinson, who is in the middle of the worst slump of his hockey career. Atkinson, who started the season on a tear after coming back from neck surgery, has not scored a goal since Nov. 11. Atkinson is third among Flyers forwards in time on the ice. His average of 17:10 is behind only Couturier and Konecny. Hours before Thursday’s game, the Flyers announced that Atkinson and second-line center Morgan Frost would be healthy scratches vs. Columbus.

A major key to Farabee’s success this season so far has been his ability to finish. According to MoneyPuck’s model, Farabee ranks fourth among Flyers in expected goals per 60 minutes with 0.8. However, his actual goal total per 60 minutes is far higher, sitting at 1.28. Since MoneyPuck assumes an average shooting ability for its expected goals calculation, Farabee’s over-performance indicates a shooting and finishing ability that is consistently above the NHL average.

With Noah Cates now skating and a return from his broken foot looking closer, nothing is guaranteed going forward. But with Farabee putting up top-line production with third-line minutes, it’s worth considering the potential if this promotion turns into a long-term move.