The Philadelphia Flyers will be without the services of Chris Pronger for the next four weeks.
Pronger is scheduled to undergo knee surgery on Tuesday, according to Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren.
"The procedure will clean out some loose particles that have given Chris some problems over the last month or so," said Holmgren in a statement. "We were hopeful that the time missed with a virus that Chris has been fighting would settle things down in his knee but after an examination yesterday, it was decided that the surgery is the way to go at this time.
"We expect Chris will be back playing in four weeks."
Pronger may be placed on long-term injured reserve in the coming days, as will defenceman Andreas Lilja.
During a conference call on Monday, Holmgren said Pronger has been dealing with the knee problem for some time but it did not cause him to miss any games.
"This has been an issue probably for the last month or so for him that's been nagging," said Holmgren. "He's been playing through it up until this recent bout with his virus."
With Pronger and Lilja out, defenceman Kevin Marshall will likely be recalled from the Flyers' AHL affiliate in Adirondack to fill the void on the blue line. Forward Brayden Schenn, who just returned from his own injury, a broken foot, will also be recalled.
"(Schenn) was in town today to get a follow-up on his foot with Dr. Raikin and everything looks good there," said Holmgren. He made it through the three games [with the Phantoms], so we will recall Brayden."
