The Montreal Canadiens have undergone a major overhaul of their line-up, with an intended focus of getting much tougher to play against. One of the cogs of this tougher persona came in the form of free agent signing Bobby Farnham. Although he is destined for the St. John’s IceCaps to start the season, it wouldn’t be shocking for him to receive a call-up at some point during the season.
In an effort to learn more about the former New Jersey Devil, I reached out to John Fischer (@JKFischer) of our SBN sister site All About the Jersey to learn more about the forward.
1- What was Farnham’s role on the Devils? Where is he best suited in the line-up?
Farnham’s role came with one word: Energy. Like many teams, the Devils have employed a forward to basically skate really hard, try to hit hard, and engage in fisticuffs as needed. I can agree with the idea of the “energy” player if the player can actually play some hockey and spell the more regular players. Farnham’s skills were limited. The Devils utilized him on the fourth line at wing and that’s pretty much where he belongs, if anywhere on an active roster.
2- What are his strengths/weaknesses? What can we expect in terms of production?
Farnham definitely played like one would expect with an “energy” player. He skated hard and quick. He tended to zero in on a player for a big hit and threw one as large as it could be for someone who’s 5’10” and 190 pounds. His shot actually wasn’t too bad. He nearly averaged a shot per game on New Jersey’s fourth line and managed to score eight goals. They weren’t all garbage goals either. I’m not saying he’s going to hand the Habs 10 goals in a full season, but he’s not an offensive-less plug. Due to his “energy” ways, he took more than his fair share of penalties (15 minors, to be precise). However, it was kind of impressive his penalty differential at Corsica is listed as +2. So he may be able to draw a little more than what he’ll eventually take from the way he plays.
As far as weaknesses, I was surprised to learn that he went to Brown University. That’s an Ivy League school. As far as I know, they don’t hand out athletic scholarships. You have to be rather smart to get into those schools. Yet, Farnham looked clueless on defense at times last season. Not that one should expect the fourth line winger to be a defensive stalwart, but he was just lost. If he wasn’t in a position to go forward and hit somebody, then Farnham just took up space on the ice. Not that anyone on the 2015-16 Devils should be particularly praised for possession, but Farnham’s 45.07% (per Corsica) was one of the lowest on the team among forwards. For someone who didn’t play a lot of minutes and did not receive difficult situations as much as possible, that’s pretty bad. The goals he scored were nice contributions, but the lack of help on defense and possession certainly did not help.
John Hynes gave Farnham an average ice time of 9:28 for 50 games. Farnham put up 8-2-10 and 48 shots in that timeframe. If Montreal gives him something similar, then you should expect about the same. A bit more with more games, of course. Oh, he’ll put up the PIMs – whether it’s in the NHL or AHL (Note: He was never a scorer under Hynes in Wilkes-Barre either), that’s up to Montreal management.
3- Where is he in terms of his development? Has he reached his full potential?
Farnham is who he is. Last season was arguably his “break out” season in that he played most of his 2015-16 campaign in the NHL. That’s all well and good, but he was an “energy” guy in the AHL and he made his mark in New Jersey and in spot duty with Pittsburgh as an “energy” guy. He’s 27. He’s not going to be much more than that. I will say he’s a far cry better than previous “energy” guys on the Devils like Cam Janssen and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond. I suspect I would prefer him over Luke Gazdic, who appears to be the next “energy” guy for the Devils. That said, he’ll chip in a few goals; plenty of fans will enjoy his “energy;” and you’ll just sigh whenever the play is in Montreal’s end of the rink when he’s out there. He’s a fourth liner at best. Farnham is who he is.
