The Flyers Talk podcast crew discussed Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, two young forwards the team would like to see more offense from coming out of the holiday break.
One would think Joel Farabee's track record will eventually come into play.
That his 20-goal season in 55 games as a 21-year-old will show down the stretch. That his 22-goal, 50-point career year last season will prove to be his actual upside.
Because his production has been uncharacteristically low for a rebuilding Flyers team that has wanted to see more strides from its younger players. Farabee has four goals, eight assists and a minus-15 rating. His 12 points through 35 games puts him on pace for 28, which would be the second fewest of his career (he had 21 in 52 games as a rookie).
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
While the drop-off is confounding, the Flyers know Farabee is a significantly better player than what his numbers depict. That's why they challenged him after last season when his game dipped over the back half of the schedule.
The Flyers are hoping the 24-year-old winger can find his scoring touch as they return from the holiday break Saturday when they visit the Ducks (4 p.m. ET/NBCSP). They're a different team with an effective and productive Farabee.
"He's a young, smart player," Sean Couturier said a week and a half ago. "He does a little bit of everything. He can finish, he can make plays, he can get involved physically at times. He hasn't probably produced as much as he'd like to, but he's getting chances. I think it's important to just stick with it, not get frustrated. I'm sure it's tough, but they'll come in bunches eventually."
Philadelphia Flyers
Find the latest Philadelphia Flyers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Farabee has played in 209 consecutive games, the longest active ironman streak among the team's roster.
"He can be utility all over the place," John Tortorella said a week and a half ago. "I can move him up and down the lineup."
At that time, the Flyers' head coach said he was happy with Farabee's game "other than him not finishing some chances." But over the final two games before the holiday break, Farabee played 13:13 minutes per game and was a minus-6.
For the season, he's fourth on the Flyers in shots with 72. He even has four more than Matvei Michkov, who is second on the team in scoring with 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists).
Logic tells you some offense is bound to come for Farabee.
"I forget what day we looked, there was like a 10-game segment maybe and he's right there at the top for producing as far as chances," Travis Konecny said a week and a half ago. "Sometimes the bounces are going to go in, sometimes they're not. That's the thing you can count on with Beez, he's going to show up, he's going to do his job every day, work hard and he's not going complain about the bounces. He's just going to keep doing his job."
Subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | Youtube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Simplecast | RSS | Watch on YouTube
