NHL Mock Draft 2018: No.14 — Joel Farabee
The Philadelphia Flyers are set up as well as any team in the NHL right now.
The Flyers already have a deep prospect pool and have two first-round picks and three picks in the top-50 of this June’s NHL Draft.
Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Sean Couturier are all signed long-term and replaceable players like Jori Lehtera, Michael Raffl and Jordan Weal come off of the books next year, opening the door for players like Oskar Lindblom, Morgan Frost and German Rubtsov to be full-time NHLers.
On the blueline, Shayne Gostisbehere is a great offensive weapon signed long-term with a great cap-hit ($4.5M AAV) and Ivan Provorov is a future star. Additionally, Robert Hagg, Philippe Myers and Samuel Morin will form a formidable blueline that has a great combination of size and offence.
Goaltending has been an issue for years, but Carter Hart is the best goaltending prospect in hockey and could take over as the Flyers’ starter in 2020 when Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth’s contracts come to an end.
This team is built to be a Stanley Cup contender in the next few years and this draft should help set them up even better.
With the No.14 Overall Pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers select…
Joel Farabee — LW — United States ????????
If there is any weakness in the Flyers’ system, it’s arguably on the wing. Farabee is the type a high-character, 200-foot player the Flyers’ GM Ron Hextall loves. While serving as the captain of the U.S. National U-18 team, Farabee scored 33 goals with 43 assists (76 points) in 62 games while playing on a line with Oliver Wahlstrom and projected 2019 No.1 overall pick Jack Hughes.
Farabee creates offence with his great speed and excellent shot. It would be a little ironic if Farabee is drafted with this selection because it was the pick they got from the St. Louis Blues for Brayden Schenn. Farabee compares pretty favourably to Schenn. Both are great skaters with good shots who play strong two-way games and are known for being good leaders.
With Voracek, Travis Konecny and Wayne Simmonds filling up the right-side, Farabee would compete with Lindblom and Isaac Ratcliffe for a spot on the left-side.
Scouting Report
“Farabee, a two-way puck mover with outstanding vision, plays a hard game in all areas of the rink. Committed to play at Boston University next season, he’s earned praise for his passing, hockey sense and compete level.” — Mike Morreale (NHL.com)
“One of the more opportunistic forwards available, Farabee is a quick-skating offensive force who served as Team USA’s captain. You’re not going to find many teenagers who exploit turnovers better than this Syracuse-area native, who this year combined with Wahlstrom to form one of the USHL’s most lethal duos.” — Steve Kournianos (SportingNews)
Rankings
- #8 — HockeyProspect.com
- #15 — FutureConsiderations.ca
- #11 — ISSHockey.com