Former Flyers Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost prepare for first game back in Philadelphia

On the night of January 30, Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost didn’t have much time to process the news of their trade to the Calgary Flames.

Farabee was at least able to grab a few drinks at the house of his (now-former) Philadelphia Flyers teammate Owen Tippett along with a few other members of the club. Frost, on the other hand, was stuck at home, nursing the vision issues and migraine that forced him to leave both the game (a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders) and the facility entirely, prior to the trade officially being finalized.

Now, back in Philadelphia for the first time since the trade for Tuesday’s game against their former club, both Farabee and Frost were able to get some of that closure, meeting up with the old crew on Monday afternoon and well into the evening.

“We had a nice dinner with a group of the guys here,” Frost noted after Tuesday’s morning skate at the Wells Fargo Center. “We had the whole day. So during the afternoon, (I met up with) some of the guys that didn’t go for dinner. Kind of got to say hi to everyone.”

Farabee and Frost, of course, were beloved in the Flyers’ locker room. Farabee was Tyson Foerster’s roommate, in a house that was once owned by team captain Sean Couturier. Both were key parts of the team’s 25-and-under social group, which also includes players like Tippett, Cam York, Jamie Drysdale and Bobby Brink. For most of them, it was the first time one of their truly close friends had been traded in their respective NHL careers.

And it certainly was the first time Farabee and Frost had experienced it.

“Yeah, it was definitely strange,” Farabee recalled. “Obviously the game ended, and everyone checks their phone right after the game. So everyone kind of knew something was going on. Danny B just grabbed me quick and was just like, ‘We’re moving you and Morgan to Calgary.’”

By the next day, the duo was on its way there, picked up by a private flight chartered by Calgary ownership. They left most of their possessions in Philadelphia; Frost noted that he brought only two bags with him on that first flight.

Monday, therefore, gave both a chance to reunite not just with their former teammates, but with the bulk of their belongings as well.

Including quite pricey ones.

“I still have my car here, so I went out and did some stuff yesterday, just like driving around,” Frost laughed. “It definitely felt weird.”

But the two are starting to settle into their new world. Unsurprisingly, given their tight friendship, Farabee and Frost have gotten an apartment together in Calgary. And with Frost’s car still in Philadelphia, they’ve secured a truck to take them to and from practices and and games, fitting right into Albertan prairie life already.

Neither has yet taken off on the ice, though. Frost got off to a promising start, scoring his first goal in a Flames uniform in just his second game with the club. But he’s now scoreless in his last four games (three points in 10 games). Farabee’s struggles have been even more pronounced — just a single point (a goal) in his 10 games wearing red.

But according to both, the lack of immediate on-ice success hasn’t been for lack of a warm welcome from their new club.

“It’s been awesome in Calgary, and the team here has been great,” Farabee said. “The guys have been awesome to us. We’re having a blast. It’s been fun.”

Surely both players will have a little bit extra in the tank for their first game against the team that traded them away — a team that neither wanted to leave. But neither expressed any hard feelings towards the Flyers on this day. Both reminisced about their favorite single-game memories with the club — for Frost, it was the 2024 outdoor Stadium Series game at the Meadowlands in North Jersey, while Farabee picked Claude Giroux’s 1000th (and final) game as a Flyer back in 2021-22, a game that concluded with Farabee scoring the game-winning goal with 1:19 remaining in the third period.

“I have a big framed picture of the team from that game,” Farabee recalled, noting that he remembers it as the best crowd atmosphere of any game during his time with the Flyers.

As for Tuesday night? Pregame warmups will be a bit strange for their first game back in their old stomping grounds, both players figure. But then, it should settle into more of a normal game — even if Farabee and Frost are now on-ice enemies to their old friends.

“(I’ll) just probably try to stay away from Seels (Nick Seeler),” Farabee joked. “Don’t want him hitting me tonight.”

Once the final buzzer sounds, however, they’ll all be buds once more. No trade is going to change that.

“Only, only great memories here, and the guys are awesome,” Frost said. “I’ve got some friends for life over there.”