Benn has been recovering from surgery to repair a core muscle injury. He had the operation July 14 and was initially expected to miss six weeks. Tuesday is two days shy of 12 weeks since the operation.

Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn said he expects to make his preseason debut against the Florida Panthers at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

"I'm feeling pretty good and I'm going to test it out [Tuesday] night," Benn told NHL.com in a phone interview Monday. "I'm actually pretty excited and looking forward to getting back out there with the guys. Hopefully it all goes well."

Benn was unable to play in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 because of his rehabilitation. He was among the original 16 players picked to represent Team Canada.

He said he has been skating hard in practice and believes he has gotten himself back into shape after taking most of the summer off because of his rehab.

"It came pretty quick, actually," Benn said. "It was actually nice to sit out the first four preseason games and just get some good practice in to start to feel like I'm in game shape again."