With the NHL season wrapping up in less than a month, the Philadelphia Flyers have already turned its attention to next season. On Monday, executive vice president and general manager Chuck Fletcher announced the club signed 2018 first-round pick Joel Farabee to an entry-level contract that will begin next season.
The 19-year-old recently completed his freshman season at Boston University, earning Hockey East's Rookie of the Year Award after leading the Terriers with 36 points (17 goals and 19 assists) in 37 games. The Cicero, N.Y. native, also led the team in shorthanded goals (3) and game-winning goals (5) and tied for the team lead in power-play goals (5).
Farabee did miss BU's last game of the season, a double-overtime loss to Northeastern in the Hockey East semifinals on Friday, with a lower-body injury.
#NTDP Alumni Update. Joel Farabee continues to shine for BU. Farabee tallied twice in their 4-2 win over Arizona St. on Friday night and now has 5 🚨's and 5 🍏's in 7 games since returning from the WJC.
— Stars n’ Stripes Hockey (@StarsStripesHKY) January 26, 2019
Here he throws one on net and finds twine for a 3-1 lead. #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/8VqAsx5uy5
At the 2019 World Junior Championship, Farabee notched three goals and two assists for the silver-medal winning USA Hockey squad. He won a gold medal at the 2017 U18 World Championship and a silver medal the following season.
Ranked No. 19 on Sporting News' Top 50 players in NHL pipelines for 2018-19, Farabee is a solid two-way player who also led the Terriers in plus-minus (+4) in his first year of college hockey.
While the future is bright for the forward, there is a foreseeable issue when he officially turns pro — finding a new jersey number. The number he wore for the USNTDP and Boston University belongs to none other than captain Claude Giroux.