Meltzer's Player Profiles: Joel Farabee

Selected by the Flyers in the first round of 2018 NHL Draft, Joel Farabee holds the distinction of being the first player born in the 2000s to play for the team. After starting the season with a brief American Hockey League stint with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, making his NHL debut for the Flyers in a 6-2 home win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 21, 2019.

On Oct. 24, Farabee's would-be first NHL goal and first assist taken off the scoreboard due to being overturned on coach's challenges but the Flyers nevertheless defeated the host Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1. Farabee finally got his first NHL point -- an assist -- in the third period of the same game.

Farabee continued to flirt with his first NHL goal, hitting the post twice, before finally nabbing the milestone on Nov. 1.The tally, which forced overtime in an eventual 4-3 shootout win over New Jersey, kicked off a month where the Flyers collected the most points in the NHL.

As the season progressed. Farabee has had some of the typical ups and downs of a teenage NHL rookie. He moved around the lineup, sat out one game as a healthy scratch, and endured a pair of 13-game goal droughts, and was briefly sent back to the American Hockey League (Feb. 24 to March 4) after the trade deadline.

Farabee also dealt with a three-game NHL suspension for an interference major against Winnipeg's Mathieu Perrault (Dec.15). In early February, he missed three games -- and lost considerable weight -- after a severe bout with the flu.

To Farabee's credit, the youngster continued to play a responsible two-way game even when pucks were not going in for him -- which enabled him to stay in the lineup. He remained confident, and eventually worked through the rough patches. Overall, Farabee has posted eight goals and 21 points in 52 games, with five of his goals and nine of his point coming in his last 15 games played before the NHL's schedule pause.

Moving forward, the Flyers see Farabee as an all-situations forward whom they expect to be an asset to the lineup for many years to come. He celebrated his 20th birthday on Feb. 25, 2000.

FIVE KEY FACTS

1) Farabee has averaged 14:06 of ice time and 19.5 shifts per game. He's even seen spot duty on the penalty kill (average of 15 seconds per game); uncommon for such a young forward.

2) The rookie put together a five-game point streak (4g, 2a) between Jan. 16 and Feb. 1. He notched his first career two-goal game on Feb. 1 against Colorado and his first two-assist game on Feb. 18 in a 5-1 home win over Columbus.

3) Farabee skated 19:05 of time -- the most in his young career to date -- in a 3-2 home win over Montreal on Nov. 7.

4) Farabee is tied for 16h in scoring among NHL rookies this season, tied for 11th in goals, tied for 17th in assists, and 15th among rookie forwards in TOI.

5) Improbably, Farabee is the Flyers' penalty minutes leader this season with a mere 39 PIM. That is largely due to his first two NHL fights (Dec. 7 vs. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, then with Ottawa, and Minnesota's Marcus Foligno on Dec. 14) and then the Perrault incident on Dec. 15. Otherwise, Farabee has only seven penalties, all minors, spaced across the other 49 games he's played.

TOP HIGHLIGHTS

1. Nov. 1 @ NJ (11:29, 3rd period): Farabee's first NHL goal was a big one for the team. It tied the score at 3-3 less than two minutes after the team fell behind by a goal, and it forced overtime and an eventual shootout before the Flyers earned the win. On the play, Michael Raffl carried the mail on the rush and circled the net. Trailing the play, Farabee hustled to a loose puck off a defender and fired the puck home past Mackenzie Blackwood.

2. Nov. 10 @ BOS (Shootout, bottom of 1st round): The big star of this night was Carter Hart but Farabee tallied over Jaroslav Halak's goal for the lone successful shootout attempt for either side. The Flyers earned a key bonus point and made a statement by winning for the fourth time in six nights (and for the third time in four nights).

3. Feb. 1 vs. COL (3:05, 2nd period and 7:32, 3rd period): Another statement win for the Flyers; this time at home against one of the more formidable teams in the Western Conference. First, Sean Couturier made a gorgeous saucer pass and Farabee showed soft hands to receive the puck cleanly and slam-dunk it before Philipp Grubauer had a chance at a save. Later, after a keep by Matt Niskanen and an Avs giveaway to Sean Couturier, the Flyers' top center made a nice pass to Farabee, who buried his second goal of the game into the back of the net for an insurance marker.

THEY SAID IT

"I firmly believe that talent has no age. If a guy who's 19 can step in and help the Flyers win and be competitive, he's going to play."

-- Alain Vigneault, April 18, 2019

HE SAID IT

"I pride myself on being a two-way player. I think I can get more playing time that way. "If I'm strictly offensive, late in the game I'm not going to get as many minutes, so I think just having that good defense that leads to offense is really important."

-- Joel Farabee, Joel Farabee, Nov. 6, 2019.