Corban Knight

Corban Knight (born September 10, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who is currently a free agent. He was a fifth-round selection, 135th overall, by the Florida Panthers in the 2009 NHL entry draft, but was traded to the Calgary Flames after the Panthers were unable to sign him to a contract. Knight played four seasons of college hockey with the University of North Dakota and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 2012–13.

Early life Knight was born in Oliver, British Columbia and moved to High River, Alberta, at age 11. His parents are Jack and Laurie Knight. Jack Knight is a Baptist minister and chaplain for the Calgary Flames and Calgary Stampeders.

Playing midget hockey with the Strathmore UFA Bisons, Knight led the Alberta Midget Hockey League in scoring in 2007–08 with 65 points. He was also named the most valuable player of the 2007 Mac's Midget AAA World Invitational Tournament after leading the event in scoring. While he had expected to return to Okotoks for the 2009–10 season, he instead joined the University of North Dakota (UND) on a full scholarship after junior forward Matt Frattin was dismissed from the squad. Knight studied physical education, exercise science and wellness while attending UND. He finished second on the team and 10th in the WCHA with 40 points in his sophomore year, 2010–11, and set a school record for faceoff efficiency; he won 59.9 percent of his draws to surpass Zach Parise's mark of 59.1 percent in 2003–04. and finished with 40 points. He won the Archie Krum Memorial Athletic Scholarship, given by the school to a player who "demonstrates leadership qualities, high academic standards and athletic excellence." He was also named a top-ten finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as top player in American college hockey; the award was ultimately won by Drew LeBlanc.

Professional

Upon graduation, the Panthers were required to sign Knight to a contract or risk losing his playing rights as he would become an unrestricted free agent. Unable to come to terms on a deal, Florida chose to trade him to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a fourth-round selection at the 2013 NHL entry draft. Knight made his NHL debut that night in a 4–1 win over the Ottawa Senators. He scored his first goal (and point) against goaltender Frederik Andersen in a 7–2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on March 12, 2014.

During the 2014–15 season, while with AHL affiliate the Adirondack Flames, Knight was traded by the Flames in a return to his original club, the Florida Panthers, in exchange for Drew Shore on January 9, 2015.

Knight signed a one-year AHL contract with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on September 1, 2016. In the 2016–17 season, he appeared in 72 games with the Phantoms where he recorded 11 goals and 29 assists for 40 points. On July 1, 2017, Knight was rewarded for his season by regaining an NHL contract in accepting a two-year, two-way deal with the Phantoms' NHL affiliate, the Philadelphia Flyers. Knight performed quite well in the 2017–18 season with the Phantoms tallying 14 goals and 23 assists appearing in just 58 games.

As a free agent from the Flyers, he left North America and signed a one-year contract with Barys Nur-Sultan of the KHL on May 28, 2019. He made an immediate impact with the Kazakh-based club, posting 20 goals and 40 points in 60 regular season games in the 2019–20 season. He added an assist during Barys' opening-round victory in the playoffs before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a free agent at the conclusion of his contract with Barys, Knight continued in the KHL, securing a lucrative two-year contract with Russian club Avangard Omsk on May 1, 2020.

Following three productive seasons with Omsk, Knight left the KHL as a free agent and continued his career abroad by agreeing to a one-year contract with Swiss club, SC Bern of the NL, on August 30, 2023. He scored 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 41 games before leaving the club in the offseason.

International play In January 2022, Knight was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 2006–07 UFA Bisons AAA AMHL 36 6 18 24 44 8 2 4 6 16 2007–08 UFA Bisons AAA AMHL 36 29 36 65 64 6 5 4 9 10 2007–08 Okotoks Oilers AJHL 4 1 0 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 2008–09 Okotoks Oilers AJHL 61 34 38 72 55 9 10 2 12 12 2009–10 University of North Dakota WCHA 37 6 7 13 35 — — — — — 2010–11 University of North Dakota WCHA 44 14 30 44 34 — — — — — 2011–12 University of North Dakota WCHA 39 16 24 40 36 — — — — — 2012–13 University of North Dakota WCHA 41 16 33 49 40 — — — — — 2013–14 Abbotsford Heat AHL 70 18 26 44 50 2 0 1 1 2 2013–14 Calgary Flames NHL 7 1 0 1 0 — — — — — 2014–15 Adirondack Flames AHL 22 8 4 12 12 — — — — — 2014–15 Calgary Flames NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 2014–15 San Antonio Rampage AHL 36 8 16 24 8 3 1 0 1 0 2015–16 Portland Pirates AHL 33 4 7 11 8 5 0 3 3 6 2015–16 Florida Panthers NHL 20 2 5 7 4 — — — — — 2016–17 Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL 72 11 29 40 44 5 0 1 1 2 2017–18 Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL 58 14 23 37 20 13 1 3 4 4 2018–19 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 23 1 3 4 0 — — — — — 2018–19 Lehigh Valley Phantoms AHL 8 4 6 10 2 — — — — — 2019–20 Barys Nur–Sultan KHL 60 20 20 40 12 5 0 1 1 0 2020–21 Avangard Omsk KHL 57 18 22 40 6 24 5 11 16 2 2021–22 Avangard Omsk KHL 47 18 30 48 21 13 3 4 7 10 2022–23 Avangard Omsk KHL 58 15 19 34 14 14 5 5 10 8 2023–24 SC Bern NL 41 11 14 25 4 1 0 0 0 0 AHL totals 299 67 112 179 144 28 2 8 10 14 NHL totals 52 4 8 12 4 — — — — — KHL totals 222 71 91 162 53 56 13 21 34 20

International Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM 2022 Canada OG 6th 5 2 1 3 0 Senior totals 5 2 1 3 0

Awards and honours Award Year AJHL Rookie of the Year 2008–09