The forward had what BriseBois said was sports hernia surgery March 2, 10 days before the NHL paused the season due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Though the Lightning captain was a full participant in Phase 2 of the NHL Return to Play Plan, he missed all but one game of Tampa Bay's run to the Stanley Cup.
Stamkos is scheduled for a consultation with a specialist next week.
"Did a tremendous job rehabbing during the pause and getting himself ready, but as it happens, sometimes with all injuries but this injury in particular, sometimes your body compensates and it eventually triggered what we believe is a compensation injury," BriseBois said. "We're talking about weeks of rehab, not months of rehab, and we fully expect him to be ready for the start of training camp, whenever that will be."
Stamkos returned for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Dallas Stars on Sept. 23. Playing his first game since Feb. 25, he scored a goal on his first and only shot of the postseason, and had five shifts totaling 2:47 of ice time in a 5-2 victory. The Lightning won the best-of-7 series in six games.
"The whole pandemic certainly didn't help his cause because you couldn't send him anywhere to go see specialists," BriseBois said. "If he goes out of the bubble, now he's got to quarantine again. What's the trade-off? He wants to be around the team, we want him around the team. It certainly complicated matters."
