Center Corban Knight, who has had a strong preseason and was a candidate to make the Flyers' opening-night roster, will miss three weeks with an undisclosed upper-body injury, general manager Ron Hextall announced Saturday.
Knight, 28, was injured in Thursday's 4-2 home loss to the New York Rangers. He has had brief NHL stints with Calgary and Florida, and had 37 points and a plus-20 rating in 38 games last season with the AHL's Phantoms.
The former University of North Dakota star had three points (goal, two assists) in four preseason games before being injured.
Assuming rookie Mikhail Vorobyev (five points in six preseason games) starts the season as the Flyers' third-pine center, that leaves three players battling for the fourth spot: Jori Lehtera, Scott Laughton, and Jordan Weal.