Flyers' Coburn and MacDonald out for a month

If you thought the Flyers' defense was falling apart without Braydon Coburn over the last couple weeks, it's about to get worse. A lot worse.

The Flyers announced on Friday that both Coburn and defenseman Andrew MacDonald will miss the next 4 weeks with vague, "lower-body" injuries.

Coburn injured his left foot in the Flyers' season-opening loss in Boston on Oct. 8. He returned to the ice for practice on Oct. 13 and many thought he would be available for the Flyers' game in Dallas on Oct. 18. That didn't happen.

Coburn then tried to play on Tuesday night in Chicago but asked out of Craig Berube's lineup after he didn't feel 100 percent comfortable when he tested it out in warmups. He didn't try again in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and now he is out with an apparent setback.

Much less is known about MacDonald's injury. He finished Wednesday's win in Pittsburgh - stepping off the ice with 1:43 remaining in the third period, shortly before Sean Couturier's empty-net goal to seal the game.

With both players out, the Flyers are left with just 5 healthy defensemen. They will need to either make a trade or recall a defenseman from Lehigh Valley to play in Saturday's game against Detroit.

Phantoms defenseman Mark Alt had his nameplate fixed atop a stall in the Flyers' locker room on Friday, but GM Ron Hextall said he had not made any decisions yet. It sounded as if Hextall was more keen on Friday on signing a defenseman or trading for one, rather than making a call-up.

Also, the Flyers updated Zac Rinaldo's status: he is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He did not practice on Friday. He is probably doubtful for Saturday's game. If he does not play, Blair Jones will take his spot on the fourth line with Jason Akeson and Chris VandeVelde.

For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli