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2019-20 Player Review: Joel Farabee shows flashes in solid rookie season

One of the many bright spots of this season for the Flyers, and us as fans, was Joel Farabee making the jump to the NHL this season. The 2018 first round pick almost immediately showed why he deserved to be here. His heralded hockey sense was on display from the jump, helping his transition from college hockey to the Phantoms, and then to the Flyers. Let’s take a look at what the leading rookie scorer for the orange and black did this season.

By the numbers

Basic Stats

Games Played Goals Assists Points PIM Shots on Goal Shooting Percentage
52 8 13 21 39 81 9.9

Farabee’s 21 points in 52 games put him on pace for roughly 33 in a full 82 game season, which is respectable enough for a rookie season. He struggled coming out of the gates in terms of finishing, and then as the Flyers hit their rough patch in mid December, and early January, Farabee struggled as well. But, over his last 15 games Farabee scored nine points only averaging 14 minutes a night. He had found his footing much like the team had before the shutdown. He picked up right where he left off in the playoffs being one of the better players in the Montreal Canadiens series. The heavy style of the playoffs eventually took its toll on Farabee, but it showed he was not phased by the big stage.

5v5 Individual Stats

Goals/60 Points/60 Shot Attempts/60 Expected Goals/60
0.58 1.73 11.64 0.67

His 21 points found himself 11th in points on the Flyers this season, and fittingly enough, he sits around that position in each of the above categories. 12th in goals/60 and shot attempts/60, and 9th in points/60, expected goals/60. As a rookie who only played five AHL games before making the jump, it’s not too shabby by any means. I’d expect to see a jump in these numbers next season whenever that does get underway, as Farabee continues to bulk up and adjust to the NHL game.

5v5 On-Ice Stats

Corsi-For % Corsi-For % RelTM Expected Goals-For % Expected Goals-For % RelTM Goals-For % PDO
49.11 -1.3 46.86 -3.3 52.73 101.8

With that said, there are some minor reasons for concern about Farabee’s play-driving ability based off of these stats. He definitely got a bit lucky this season with a PDO of almost 102, and negative relatives in Corsi and expected goals. Of course, it’s incredibly difficult to judge rookie seasons especially shortened ones given such a small sample size. His style of play seems like he’s destined to be a really good play-driving forward at the NHL level. His hockey sense is too good and he’s certainly not afraid to shoot if presented with a good opportunity.

Three burning questions

Did this player live up to expectations this season?

As previously mentioned, it’s hard to judge rookie seasons especially when talking about expectations for said rookies. With that said, I think Farabee showed us just about everything we wanted to see from him. He showed flashes of the player he could become down the line which is a top six two way forward who will drive play with the best of them.

What do we expect from this player next season?

A solid sized jump in points per game to get him on a 40-45 point pace I think is a fair expectation. It’s hard to expect an actual jump in points given we have no idea how this upcoming season will play out, but those jumps in averages and percentages is something we have a pretty good chance of seeing I think. Even if we don’t see the increases in points averages, if he’s increasing his Corsi and generating more high quality chances, that should be reason to be excited.

What would we like to see this player improve on?

Driving play and finishing. His 9.9 shooting percentage isn’t bad by any means, but it would be nice to see him improve it closer to an 11% mark. The play-driving, as mentioned above, is something that would definitely be nice to see him improve upon. He has the tools to be that kind of player, he just needs to put it together. With (hopefully) an expanded role next season, one would anticipate those numbers to rise. Farabee has a ton of potential to be a top player for this team, and next season could be a huge step towards that.

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