Farabee’s Injury Could Be Troubling for Philadelphia Flyers

With the 2021-22 NHL season officially in the rearview mirror for the Philadelphia Flyers, it is time for the organization to take a step forward and start working towards next season. Regardless of how tough last year ended for the Flyers, there were a handful of bright moments that gave fans hope moving forward. After dealing with key injuries throughout the entire season, the club thought it would be in the clear heading into the offseason, but now that just is not the case anymore.

Once again, the team is already dealing with a significant injury before the season even gets rolling. 

INJURY UPDATE: Flyers forward Joel Farabee underwent successful disc replacement surgery in his cervical region this morning (Fri., June 24). The surgery was performed by Dr. Jon Yoon, a neurosurgeon at Penn Medicine.
He is expected to make a full recovery in 3-4 months. https://t.co/qyio463iKG

The Flyers’ organization announced Friday afternoon that forward Joel Farabee underwent a successful disc replacement surgery in his cervical region, the same surgery Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel and Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson underwent earlier this past season. Farabee is expected to miss three to four months, including all of training camp and the start of the 2022-23 regular season. This injury could prove to be troubling for the young forward, as the organization enters a new era of hockey under recently hired head coach John Tortorella.

Could Farabee’s Surgery Be Linked to Past Injuries?

Last season, Farabee missed a total of 19 games with two different injuries to his left shoulder area. He ended up finishing the year with 34 points (17 goals and 17 assists) in 63 games played. By the end of the year, things just seemed off as he finished the last 12 games with a single goal and a minus-13 rating. While it has not been determined if the recent surgery is linked to the past shoulder issues, it would certainly make sense if there was some discomfort after dealing with such a significant injury. 

“Shoulder feels good,” Farabee said at the end-of-the-season press conference. “I think coming back the first time, it definitely wasn’t in great shape. Definitely tried to play through it a bit, but I think coming back from the second time, I felt a lot stronger. Ever since then, it’s been good.

“Obviously it gets a little sore with the schedule, playing back-to-backs and stuff like that, it can get a little sore. But at the end of the day, the…