Corban Knight Signed by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms

by

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League signed the former University of North Dakota forward Corban Knight to an AHL contract, the team announced Thursday.

In three seasons of professional hockey, the 25-year-old Knight has played in 161 AHL games, with four different teams (Portland Pirates, San Antonio Rampage, Adirondack Flames, and the Abbotsford Heat) scoring 38 goals and 91 points. In 29 career NHL games, Knight has spent time with the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers, scoring three goals and eight points, with a plus-two rating.

Last season, Knight split time with the Portland Pirates and the Florida Panthers. In 33 games with the Pirates, Knight scored four goals and 11 points, he was also a minus-11. In 20 games with the Panthers, Knight scored two goals and five points, he was also a plus-three.

Prior to playing professionally, Knight played under current Philadelphia Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol. Knight had an impressive four-year career at UND, the High River, Alberta, native played in 161 games, scoring 52 goals and 146 points, he was also a plus-62. During the 2012-13 season, the former All-American was a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.

During his four-year career at UND, Knight was known for his faceoff success. In his final season (2012-13), Knight led the NCAA with 623 faceoff wins. For comparison sake, that was 120 more faceoff wins than the second place finisher T. J. Tynan of Notre Dame. Knight left UND ranked 27th all-time in scoring and first all-time in faceoff wins with 1746.

Before UND, Knight played with the Okotoks Oilers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. During the 2008-09 season, Knight was named the AJHL Rookie of the Year, scoring 34 goals and 72 points in 61 games.

Knight was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the fifth-round (135 overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.