The 31-year-old forward was injured with 1:25 left in the second period of the Flyers' 6-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.
Raffl has nine points (three goals, six assists) in 28 games, and his dependable play as the fourth-line center has allowed the Flyers to consistently play four lines. Raffl is winning 50.0 percent of his face-offs despite playing mostly on the wing during his seven NHL seasons.
"That fourth line had been playing some good hockey for us," coach Alain Vigneault said of a line that recently has included Tyler Pitlick and James van Riemsdyk on the wings. "They've been very dependable. I was very confident putting them on the ice in any situation. And [Raffl] was doing a good job in the middle of taking draws and he was doing a good job of winning quite a few faceoffs especially on his left side. So, 5-on-5 I was happy with his play, his line's play."
Raffl also has been a big part of the Flyers' penalty kill, which is tied for third in the NHL at 85.9 percent. He's fourth among Philadelphia forwards in shorthanded ice time at 1:25 per game.
Vigneault said rookie forward Joel Farabee could play in that role against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSP, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV), as could forward Mikhail Vorobyev, who was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.
"Penalty kill is about having a detailed approach and then guys that take pride in it," defenseman Matt Niskanen said. "[Raffl] is one of those guys that really took it on as part of his role this year, as part of our penalty kill group. Somebody's going to get a chance for portions of penalty kills and we'll need them to step up, but he's a good player and he's played well for us. We will miss him."
