The kid line: Flyers Joel Farabee, Noah Cates, and Owen Tippett are building chemistry for now and the future

Flyers third-liners Noah Cates, Joel Farabee, and Owen Tippett will celebrate their birthdays within 20 days of each other in February, but Cates and Tippett will be ringing in 24 while Farabee will be turning 23. Despite his age, Farabee is the veteran of the line.

Farabee, a first-round pick by the Flyers in 2018 (No. 14 overall), broke into the NHL at age 19. He’s heading into his fourth NHL season and will hit 200 games if he stays healthy this season.

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Tippett, picked by the Florida Panthers in the first round in 2017 (No. 10 overall), made the Panthers out of his first camp at 18 but was sent back to juniors. He also is going into his fourth NHL season, but he has 55 fewer NHL games than Farabee, as he never was quite able to stick in the NHL with the Panthers. Last season, when he was traded to the Flyers at the deadline, was the first that Tippett played more than 50 NHL games.

Cates, meanwhile, is on an opening-night NHL roster for the first time in his career. He joined the Flyers at the conclusion of his college season at the University of Minnesota Duluth and played 16 games. That said, he had the most impressive training camp of any Flyer, according to coach John Tortorella.

The three youngsters were placed together on a line on Oct. 6. They’ve been “bouncing ideas off each other,” Farabee said, and seem to have built some chemistry. But that chemistry has not been tested by a game.

Farabee only was officially cleared for contact on Oct. 6, so he did not play in any preseason games. He received his opening-night game clearance on Wednesday.

After undergoing disk replacement surgery in June, Farabee didn’t expect to be back for the opener, so he was excited. His linemates were happy to hear the news, too. The skill he infuses into the lineup is a welcome addition.

“He makes so many good plays,” Cates said. “I’ve just got to support him, get close to him, because I know he’ll give me that puck. ... Very excited for Joel and just his offseason and recovery. He was working hard, and he did really well with all that stuff.”

Despite being older, they’re also excited to have his experience and leadership back.

“Any time you get a guy like that that’s young but has played a couple hundred games in the league, it goes a long way,” Tippett said. “Obviously, there are young guys coming in and out all the time. So to have a guy like that to lean on, it’s big for the team.”

With the organization’s emphasis on youth this season, eyes will be on the third line, the team’s youngest trio. Farabee can’t wait to prove the future’s bright. He just needs to get through the first few shifts, when he can prove to himself he’s ready physically, and then he thinks they’ll shine.

“The new system I feel like really plays into our hands and how we play and how quick we can make plays in tight and things like that,” Farabee said. “So I think for us, we’ve just got to get out of the D-zone. And once we do that, I think in the offensive zone, we’re going to really click.”

After second-pair defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen left practice early Wednesday, Tortorella told the media he didn’t know what was wrong with him. Thursday didn’t provide much more clarity, with Tortorella saying Ristolainen has a “body injury.”

The injury was not sustained in practice that day, Tortorella said. It’s been a nagging injury. Ristolainen also missed the season opener last year after being injured in the preseason. He is “day-to-day.”

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Another young player, 22-year-old Egor Zamula, will get the start on the third defensive pair alongside Nick Seeler instead. General manager Chuck Fletcher hinted that Zamula might make the opening-night lineup on Wednesday, while Tortorella complimented Zamula’s vision on the ice.

“It’s a dream come true,” Zamula said. “I mean, I wanted to be here. I want to sit in the locker room with these guys and play on the ice with these guys.”

Zamula made his NHL debut in 2020-21 and played 12 career games, partnering with his role model and fellow Russian Ivan Provorov last season. This is the first time the undrafted Zamula has made an NHL lineup out of training camp.