Martin Fehervary missed the end of the 2024-25 season due to a torn meniscus in his right knee. The Slovakian defenseman underwent surgery in April, missing the final game of the regular season and the entirety of the Washington Capitals’ playoff run.

Capitals’ general manager Chris Patrick said in June that Fehervary was “doing great” and that “he’s pretty much at the point now where he can start his normal offseason training.” He added, “Marty’s a machine, so you can’t keep him down too long.”

While Fehervary’s progress was positive two months into his recovery, he has hit a wall since, as Capitals training camp begins in less than a month.

“I have minor inflammation and can’t get rid of it, and it’s still hurting me a bit,” Fehervary said to Slovakian media per a Sportnet.sk YouTube video, and as translated by Katina K. “It’s a bit of a long story.”

While Fehervary has been able to do off-ice work, he has yet to return to the ice, where he’s one of the fastest skaters in the NHL.

“I would like to be better and to know when (I’ll be skating again), but I know I will get there,” Fehervary said at the Slovak Hockey Player of the Year 2025 gala at Bratislava Castle. “I don’t want to rush anything. I want to be sensible and patient about the knee. When everything is then in good standing with the knee, I will start back on the ice.”

When asked if things were bad enough with his knee where he might miss the start of the regular season, Fehervary responded, “I don’t believe so, but I should have been training on the ice for a month already. But you never really know. I certainly hope that there is no problem. But I will know when I get there.”

Fehervary made the comments after winning the Róbert Švehla Award as best Slovak defenseman for the third consecutive year. He is planning to leave for the Washington, DC area in the coming days.

“It looks like I will be leaving on the 31st of August,” Fehervary said.

He’s also been in regular contact with the Capitals about his progress.

“Of course, I am in communication with many people,” the five-year NHL veteran said. “We are working together to find the best possible solution.”

Fehervary is coming off a career year with the Capitals after posting 25 points (5g, 20a) in 81 games. The 25-year-old rearguard was effective both at five-on-five and on the penalty kill, skating primarily with Matt Roy in a shutdown role.

After the Capitals were eliminated in the second round by the Carolina Hurricanes in five games, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said that being without the unheralded, slick-skating defenseman in the playoffs was difficult.

“I think we knew, our players knew, our staff knew, that when we lost Marty, and I don’t think the rest of the hockey world really knows, how significant of a player as he is for our team,” Carbery said. “He does a lot of things that go unnoticed, and so we knew it was a significant blow to our back end.

“I still would agree with what I said at the time, is we could still, and we’ve won a series in the first round against Montreal without Marty, but it was a massive blow to lose him.”

The 2025-26 season will be a big one for Fehervary as he’s already been named one of Team Slovakia’s six initial roster members for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.

“I’m very excited and motivated about the Olympics, but the first priority is to be healthy,” Fehervary said. “And then I can start to think about that.”

Fehervary is also a month removed from signing a seven-year contract extension with the Capitals that begins at the start of the 2026-27 campaign. Fehervary got a major pay raise, which will see him earn an average of $6 million per season and $42 million over the length of the deal.