Joel Farabee On Leadership, Flyers Fans & Bringing Playoffs Back To Philly

If you’re the kind of person that believes in destiny, you would be hard-pressed to find a better example of it then Joel Farabee getting drafted to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Chosen 14th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, Farabee arrived in Philadelphia with a blend of skill, speed, and plenty of personality on and off the ice that seemed tailor-made for the Flyers’ organization. But for Farabee, the journey has been far from linear, shaped by both triumphs and challenges that have molded him into a cornerstone of the team’s future.

His reflections on his career so far paint a portrait of a young player who is deeply introspective and understands the demands of playing in Philadelphia—an awareness that goes beyond mere acknowledgement and leans more towards a full embracing of the fans’ expectations.

“When I first got drafted, my dad told me, ‘Don’t listen to sports radio here,'” Farabee recalls with a smile. “I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into when I got drafted here, and I love being here. I love the fans and I think having that relationship with the fans like we do is great.”

And while Flyers fans are honest about their feelings toward their players, Farabee’s own honesty about his journey is refreshing. He recounts last season, where he put up career numbers while also struggling with cold spells that he knows left fans wanting more from him.

“Last year, I definitely felt pretty good,” he said. “[I was] having a career year, but I felt like, down the stretch, the fan base probably wasn’t as happy. I tried to build off of that in the summer; I tried to do a lot of the same things I did the previous summer. Having a good year last year was good for me, just because I had that year before where I came off neck surgery and kind of struggled. I definitely felt good about my game.”

This year, he’s looking to make it three straight seasons playing all 82 games—if for no other reason than to preserve his own sanity.

“Having that year before where I had neck surgery, I was out with my shoulder a bit—it sucks when you’re not playing,” Farabee admitted. “It kind of makes you sick when you see your teammates out there and you’re not able to be out there. I try to play through every little thing I can, and I’ve been really fortunate to not have any major injuries the past couple years, so hopefully—knock wood—keep things going on and hopefully play another 82 this year.”

This year, he’s been playing on a line with Scott Laughton and Bobby Brink—a combination that has him feeling even more optimistic about the things he can accomplish during the 2024-25 campaign.

“Playing with Laughts and Bobby [Brink], we try to support the puck as best we can, and I think we talk a lot off the ice, so we’re always talking about how it can be a little better,” he described. “One thing for our line is we really try not to cheat anywhere in the game. Sometimes you might not get the offense every game doing that, but I think, in the long run of things, playing the right way and supporting the puck and things, it’ll end up paying off. Hopefully we just keep building that chemistry that we’ve got going and keep getting a little better every day.”

But if there’s one thing about Farabee, it’s that his approach to hockey is unabashedly human, and his connection to his teammates goes far beyond line chemistry. At 24 years old, he knows that he’s not that far removed from being a wide-eyed rookie with lots to learn about being an NHL player, and he hasn’t forgotten about what players like Laughton did to make him feel like he belonged.

“When I was 19 playing here, I was fortunate to have—I think the team was pretty old when I first came in the league, so having guys like Michael Raffl, [Claude Giroux], those guys, they really led me in the right direction,” he recounted. “…Any chance [Laughton] could, he’d have me over for dinner or go out to dinner or whatever. I would say Michael Raffl, too. They both lived in the same apartment complex, so I hung out with those guys a ton my first couple years.

“It meant a lot to me for those guys to—I think Raffl was probably 31 or 32 when I was 19, so for him to be hanging out with a 19-year-old was time out of his day. That stuff means a lot to me. I think when I look back in my career, I’ll really appreciate those moments.”

That example has fueled the player and person he’s grown into—the cool older brother that you want to be like in every facet, who will always be there give you the best advice and a ride home when you need it, no questions asked.

He’s gone as far as doing things like inviting younger players into his home (previously owned by Flyers captain Sean Couturier)—an arrangement so nice that Tyson Foerster came to live with Farabee during his rookie year and never left.

“I feel like where I’m at now is really trying to help the next generation of our young guys,” Farabee said. “I really make an effort to treat the young guys with respect and try to help them out as much as I can because guys did it for me when I was coming up. I think just learning from the the older guys when I came up has really helped me just trying to be a leader off the ice and helping guys where I can.”

If he’s starting to sound like future captain material, don’t worry—Farabee’s name has been a mainstay on anticipatory lists that try to predict who could take over the Flyers’ captaincy after Couturier. However, wearing the “C” on his jersey one day is surprisingly not something he gives much thought to.

“I really try not to pay attention to it,” he admitted. “I think our leadership group is awesome right now. I think the group of guys we have is amazing and [captain Sean Couturier] does a great job of managing everyone, and you have Laughts who’s a little more outspoken, and [Travis Konecny] who leads by example and off the ice is a little more quiet. I try to be a leader in situations where I feel like I can and speaking up on when I feel like I can. It’s not really something I actively think about. You just try and do what you can and help the team in any way you can.

“I really try to learn from the older guys since I’ve been here. Laughts and Coots and TK have been here my whole career, so I’ve been learning through those guys [and] it’s great. If the opportunity ever came, I feel like I would be well-suited for it, but it’s not something I actively think about, it’s not really a goal of mine.”

Right now, the goal is continue building momentum with this current team and take advantage of their abundance of skill and talent to reach the postseason success that Farabee got a taste of back in 2020.

“We were supposed to be in the playoffs obviously, but because of COVID, everything shut down,” he recalls. “I think being able to play in the playoffs, even though it was in the bubble, was definitely a cool experience.

“You look at where our team was last year and how close we got to the playoffs and I feel like you’re just another year older, a little more experience. Obviously we’ve got some really good young guys coming into our team and hopefully we can just keep building on that and sneak into a playoff spot. Once you get in, anything can happen.”

And while the desire to bring playoff hockey back to the Wells Fargo Center is strong, the desire to show the naysayers what he’s capable of is even greater.

“It just motivates me to want to prove people who doubted me wrong,” he explained. “I feel really healthy, I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life. Camp is obviously tough and everyone goes through it, but I feel like now we’re at the point of the season where camp really pays off and you see some teams kind of dying off, and I feel like we’re just getting going.

“[In the playoffs], you get the sense of how hard the game is and what it takes to win the whole thing, so I think it would be cool to get a playoff game at home with the Flyers fans. I think that would be special. I haven’t seen that personally, so that’s definitely the goal.”

However, Joel Farabee is nothing if not a regular 24-year-old that just loves the game of hockey and wants to make his city proud. In a candid—and strikingly philosophical—statement, he shows exactly why he’s been (and will continue to be) a fan favorite for the past six years. (They don’t call him Philly Joel for nothing!)

“As a human, everyone wants to be liked and everyone wants to be appreciated,” he said simply. “I think Philly fans are so passionate, and it’s a really good thing to want the best for the team and the specific player, but I think it just kind of motivates you a little bit more. You want people to appreciate what you do out there and you want to be liked, so I just try to take that all into account every game and go from there.”