"It's not something that's really a common procedure for hockey, so it's not like I know 10 or 15 guys who've had this done and I know what the time frame's going to be," the Pittsburgh Penguins captain said at the NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour on Thursday.
"I think it's somewhere around six weeks. It could be less. It could be a little more. It's one of those things that I don't really have a great gauge."
The Penguins open the season at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 12. A six-week recovery for the 34-year-old would have him miss the first four games before returning Oct. 23 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"Surgery's always the last resort," Crosby said. "The last thing I wanted to do was to have to miss any time, but I think with the timeline, I don't think it's going to be anything that's too lengthy. If there's some missed games, they're early on."
Crosby said the problem with his left wrist didn't limit him much, although it had been lingering each season. In the offseason, it would usually come around with rest and treatment, but he said he had minor surgery to try to "clean it out and give it some relief" on Aug. 31, 2020.
Following that procedure, Crosby was 10th in the NHL with 62 points (24 goals, 38 assists) in 55 games last season and a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given annually to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by members of the NHL Players' Association.
"The scope kind of served its purpose," Crosby said. "I got through last year. I was hoping maybe to get a few more years without having to get anything done. It didn't work that way."
When Crosby tried to rest and treat the wrist as usual this offseason, it didn't respond well, prompting a procedure more invasive than the one last year.
"I've managed it for a long time," Crosby said. "The trainers and doctors have been awesome. … I just couldn't manage it without getting surgery. That's kind of the point it got to."
