The 11th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, defenseman Ryan Ellis has developed into a key member of the Nashville Predators franchise.

In 2016-17, a season capped by the Predators’ first-ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, Ellis tallied 38 points, a career-high, during the regular season and another 13 during the team’s playoff run. But Ellis went down with a knee injury during Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins, an injury that required offseason surgery.

On Thursday, Predators general manager David Poile announced that Ellis could miss anywhere from four to six months as a result.

“The initial prognosis on this type of a knee injury is 4-6 months,” Poile said on Thursday, via The Tennessean. “Right now, we feel and the doctor feels it’s going to take the full six months for him to recover.

“Ryan’s not skating yet. He probably will be skating in approximately another three weeks, and the recovery will go from there. We don’t expect him back until the end of the [calendar] year, maybe the new year, maybe right around Christmastime.”

Ryan Ellis appeared in 71 regular season games last season, the third time in the last four years that he’s played in that many games or more. The 16 goals, 22 assists and 38 points all tied or established new single-season career-best marks for Ellis, with the assist number matching his total from the 2015-16 campaign. Ellis, who also scored four power play goals last season, also produced the best plus/minus of his career to date with a plus-17.

By Raphielle Johnson