One week after Flyers’ centerpiece Sean Couturier re-signed with the club a year early, Joel Farabee resigns a year before he reaches RFA status.
The Flyers and Farabee agreed today on a six-year, $30 million contract extension ($5 million AAV). This deal locks up Farabee for his entire RFA eligibility period, as he will be an unrestricted FA at the end of the 2027-’28 season.
This kind of contract tells me that Chuck Fletcher and management really liked what they saw from him development-wise. We have seen the Flyers use “bridge deals” in the past decade when re-signing their young talent. For example, Travis Sanheim’s last contract and his recent extension are both bridge deals. When you look at comparable extensions, Travis Konecny may be the only one. He signed his six-year, $33 million extension at the age of 22 ($5.5 million AAV). That is only a $500K differential per year.
With a term of six years, this extension also tells me Farabee is seen as a part of this team’s core. He has already stated he wants to stay in Philadelphia for his whole career, and Farabee will be around 26 years old at the end of this deal. Right when his real prime begins.
There is plenty to like about “Philly Joel” and what he brings to this team. To start, he led the Flyers in goals scored last season with 20 in 55 games. When you take into consideration that 17 of those 20 goals were at even strength, that is something to take note of. Scoring even strength goals at that rate will definitely get you paid.
He also managed to have a 0 plus/minus on a team that was ranked 31st in goals allowed, not easy to do. Farabee also improved his takeaway/giveaway numbers, going from 20TK – 26GV to 27TK – 20GV. Improvement across the board, even on a struggling hockey team.
After 2020-’21, expectations for him will be pretty high this upcoming season. When that $5 million cap hit begins in 2022-’23, believe me they will be higher. That is how it works here in Philly. However, the 2018 first round pick avoided the sophomore slump, and seems to be trending strongly in the right direction. He is motivated and wants to be a Flyer. He is the second-youngest player to lead the Flyers in goals behind Eric Lindros, albeit a shortened season. Assuming no disasters, this deal could be a really good piece of business by Fletcher.
So, make that two players locked up by the Flyers a year before they had too. These two players see themselves as key pieces, are motivated and like what the team has done this offseason.
43 days until Flyers hockey.
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