Someone has to have some optimism in Philadelphia and it seems to be a Flyers player that is desperate for a good season.
Joel Farabee was steadily getting more and more production as his role on the team increased through the first few years in the NHL. He earned himself a six-year, $30-million extension as his rookie deal expired but that came with substantial expectations. An injury that required surgery later, and Farabee unfortunately never really got feeling like himself during the 2022-23 season.
Now, he’s looking to bounce back this fall and despite the Flyers tearing a whole lot of the team down and taking the massive first step into a rebuild, the 23-year-old winger believes that this team will not be as bad as people are assuming.
“From what I’ve read on Twitter and stuff like that, everyone’s got us dead last, we’re finishing bottom-five,” Farabee said in an interview with NHL.com. “I really don’t think we’re going to be that bad at all. I think we have a really good young group of forwards. I think you saw that at the end of last year, how some guys took over, ‘Frosty’ (Morgan Frost), ‘Tip’ (Owen Tippett). I think we’re going to be a pretty tough team to beat. I think there’s never an easy night in Philly when you’re playing us. I think we’re going to be a lot better than people expect.”
The young players stepping up like they did in the second half of last season is one thing, but Farabee has another reason why the Flyers will be better. Both Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson missed the entirety of last season and he is ecstatic for them to come back in the lineup.
“I think it’s going to be great. Obviously anytime you can add a 40-goal scorer (Atkinson) and a Selke Trophy winner (Couturier) back to your lineup, I think it’s going to help,” he said. “Just having those guys off the ice, ‘Coots’ is so good off the ice being a leader and stuff like that, just such a smart guy. And Cam’s just one of those guys, he really brings people together. Having a young team, I think those are two guys that a lot of guys look up to, including me. If they’re pulling on the rope, a lot of guys are going to follow them.”
Hell, we won’t disagree with him that having those two back should provide a boost to not only the on-ice product but overall morale.
Usually you will get the players saying that they will be better and aim for the playoffs and all that typical stuff before the puck has even been dropped for the first exhibition game at training camp, but this just feels different. Unlike some other tear-down-everything rebuild teams, the Flyers have some young players already that could be part of the team when they are good again. Add that to the supply of experienced players they are either getting back from injury or have added via free agency (Garnet Hathaway), this team should theoretically be better than last year’s version.
Throw in the energetic juice of a rookie like Tyson Foerster and suddenly the Flyers might end up winning more games than anyone expects, even Farabee.
But this is the game of hockey and weird things happen. Even the best players can succumb to bad goaltending or poor defense – no one truly can predict what teams will be good or not, just have a broad range and some estimated guesses. Let’s ride on the high of not experiencing the 2023-24 Flyers yet.
