Joel Farabee

The Flyers are dangling forward Joel Farabee in trade talks this summer as they continue rebuilding their roster, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports.

It comes at a good time for general manager Daniel Brière. Farabee’s trade value is likely the highest it’s ever been. The 24-year-old had a career-best season in 2023-24, putting up 22 goals and 50 points and playing in all 82 games for the second year in a row. The increase in production came with a decrease in ice time from 17:01 to 16:11 per game, but he still managed 182 shots on goal compared to 145 last year.

He shot below his career average, too, so it’s not like his goal-scoring production was a fluke. Long-term, he remains projectable as a usual bet for 25-plus goals as he enters his mid-20s. The 2018 14th overall pick does come with a $5MM price tag through 2028, though, and it’s fair to wonder if teams are willing to take a swing at that commitment for a player who had yet to eclipse 40 points in a season entering 2023.

Farabee also had the best two-way season of his career. He was on the ice for 42.8 total expected goals against at even strength, down from 55.2 last year. The Flyers also controlled 51.1% of shot attempts with Farabee on the ice at even strength, a solid but non-elite figure.

The Flyers have been connected to a potential deal with the Senators in recent days, one that some have speculated could include the clubs’ first-round picks, Ottawa defenseman Jakob Chychrun, Philly center Scott Laughton, or other pieces. It’s not clear if Farabee’s name has come up in those talks, though.

Farabee’s deal was also fairly backloaded, meaning his total salary will be north of $5MM annually in the last three years of the deal. That’s not a huge consideration for most teams, but it could be for a club that doesn’t always have a penchant for spending to the salary cap’s upper limit.

The Philadelphia Flyers could be without Joel Farabee for the first part of the 2022-23 season after the young forward underwent successful disc replacement surgery in his cervical region this morning. The procedure was completed at Penn Medicine, and Farabee is expected to make a full recovery in three to four months.

Neck or spinal surgery is certainly not what Flyers fans want to hear about their young star, who struggled along with the rest of the roster this season. The 22-year-old forward had just 17 goals and 34 points in 63 games, numbers that didn’t even match his shortened 2020-21 sophomore campaign. Signed long-term to a contract that carries a $5MM cap hit, Farabee is meant to be one of the pillars that the Flyers build around moving forward.

A three-month timeline would allow him to be ready for the start of the regular season but obviously, that is still in jeopardy at this point. An injury like this is not something a player would want to rush back from, even if the team expects to try and contend for the Metropolitan Division playoff spots after a poor year.

With the team also looking to clear salary this summer by moving James van Riemsdyk, according to The Fourth Period, there could be quite a different look upfront to start the year. Those two finished fourth and fifth in team scoring during the 2021-22 campaign, just behind Claude Giroux, who is an unrestricted free agent after a deadline trade.