The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Thursday that they have signed left-winger Joel Farabee to a six-year contract extension worth $30 million ($5 million AAV).
The new deal will go into effect at the beginning of the 2022-23 season, meaning Farabee will be under team control through the 2027-28 season.
It’s quite the reward for the 21-year-old, who took a major step forward in his professional development last season by leading the Flyers with 20 goals scored in 55 games. That made him the second-youngest player in franchise history to lead the team in scoring behind only Eric Lindros, who posted 44 goals during his age 20 season in 1993-94.
Farabee, a Syracuse, New York native, is just three years removed from being drafted 14th overall in 2018 out of Boston University where he was named 2018-19 Hockey East Rookie of the Year.
He posted eight goals in 52 games during the 2019-20 season — his rookie season — and scored another three goals with two assists in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs that were carried out in the Toronto COVID-19 bubble.
Regardless, it’s a sizable extension for a young player that still has plenty left to prove. After all, the Flyers are hoping that he can develop into a bona fide first-line winger to carry the franchise across the next decade.
Early indications are not only suggesting that Farabee can adapt into such a role, but that the Flyers are going all-in in betting on their star-in-the-making, too.
