Flyers lose a player for 3 weeks just days before the start of the season.

The Philadelphia Flyers have been dealt a tough blow just days before the start of the regular season.

According to a breaking report from the Philadelphia Flyers' official website, the team has lost the services of 28 year old center Corban Knight for what sounds like it will be a period of at least three weeks. Knight was a full participant in Thursday night's preseason game between the Flyers and the New York Rangers, that is at least until he suffered an injury that forced him to leave the game. 

Unsurprisingly given the organizations history of keeping injuries tightly under wraps, and perhaps for good reason, the Flyers have not disclosed exactly what Knight is suffering. They have however confirmed that his injury was of the "upper body" variety and of course that he will not be participating in the Flyers' final preseason game against the Boston Bruins evening. 

As disappointing as this may be for the Flyers at this time it has to be even more of a let down for Knight himself. At 28 years old he has only in a combined total of 29 National Hockey League games during his career and given the limited life span of players his chances of getting more games are limited. Keeping that in mind Knight was having one of the best training camps of his career thus far and was standing out as a valuable contributor during the Flyers' preseason contests thus far. 

Through 4 preseason appearances Knight had recording 1 goal and 2 assists for a total of 3 points but those numbers do not show the full extent of his contribution to the Flyers line up. Those 3 points in 4 games came in spite of getting just 13:11 of ice time on average, a feat made even more impressive when you consider the fact that on average 3:51 of that time was on the penalty kill. Additionally in spite of his penalty killing duties Knight was boasting a plus minus rating of +3 through those 4 games.

Now with only a few days remaining before the season it's unclear what the future will hold for Knight but due to his injury the Flyers have called up a replacement. General manager Ron Hextall confirmed that 21 year old defenseman Phil Myers would be stepping into the line up as a result of being recalled following the injury to Knight , 

A tough break for a relatively young man that was really starting to show his value.