10 players who will define Calgary Flames' 2026-27 season: Joel Farabee

Joel Farabee wasn’t happy with the first impression he made on the Calgary Flames .

A year later, the vibes at his end-of-season media availability in April were a lot more positive — and rightfully so.

The 26-year-old found his role in 2025-26, slotting in alongside Mikael Backlund and emerging as one of the Flames’ most reliable two-way forwards, scoring 20 goals for the third time in his career and earning comparisons to the now-traded Blake Coleman.

“When you look at Joel’s game, he’s willing and able to accept any role that you give him on any given night. There’s zero complaints,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said at exit interviews in April. “All his teammates, old or young, are comfortable going to him. Very much the same player (as Coleman).

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“Now, it’s a matter of him, let’s call it maybe embracing the harder parts and not just going to the wall, you’ve got to go through it now.”

All of that makes Farabee one of the most intriguing Flames heading into the 2026-27 season.

We don’t need to recount the long list of veteran leaders who were traded away over the past eight months, but rebuilding teams do need both leadership and guys who can set the standard on the ice every night.

With nearly 500 games in the NHL to his name, Farabee now qualifies as a veteran and his role at both ends of the ice will likely only increase this season.

Let’s start at the defensive end. Among forwards, only Mikael Backlund (2:27) and Coleman (2:10) played more shorthanded minutes per-game than Farabee last season (2:00). With Coleman traded to the Minnesota Wild at the beginning of July, even more penalty-killing responsibility will fall on Farabee’s shoulders.

He has shown he’s more than capable of handling it and, around the NHL, only the Buffalo Sabres’ Ryan McLeod scored more shorthanded goals than the four Farabee potted last year.