One of the Flyers’ top forwards is going to be out of commission for a while.
Joel Farabee underwent successful disc replacement surgery in his cervical region Friday morning, the Flyers announced. The 22-year-old is expected to recover in 3-4 months.
The Flyers begin training camp on September 21, so it’s likely Farabee, at the very least, will miss a significant portion of the team’s first training camp under new head coach John Tortorella.
INJURY UPDATE: Flyers forward Joel Farabee underwent successful disc replacement surgery in his cervical region this morning (Fri., June 24). The surgery was performed by Dr. Jon Yoon, a neurosurgeon at Penn Medicine.
He is expected to make a full recovery in 3-4 months. pic.twitter.com/qyio463iKG
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) June 24, 2022
Farabee is only the third NHL player known to have undergone disc replacement surgery. Jack Eichel of the Vegas Golden Knights was the first to have the procedure done last November, and Tyler Johnson of the Chicago Blackhawks soon followed in December.
Last year, Dr. Chad Prusmack, who recommended Eichel undergo the controversial disc replacement surgery, joined Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast to explain the effectiveness of the operation.
“This is one of those operations they wake up from surgery and they want to hug you. It is extremely effective. It’s extremely safe,” said Dr. Prusmack.
After recovering from the surgery, Eichel registered 14 goals and 25 points in 34 games with the Golden Knights.
Farabee is coming off a 17-goal, 34-point campaign with the Flyers. He only appeared in 63 games due to a nagging shoulder injury that landed him on injured reserve two separate times.
Farabee has logged 45 goals and 93 points in 170 games as a Flyer since being selected in the first round (No. 14 overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
