ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Blues captain Chris Pronger, already out at least until January, will have another operation on his injured left wrist on Monday.

"It's not very good,'' Pronger said Saturday before the Blues played Dallas. "I have shooting pain up my arm when I use it.''

It's unknown how long the additional surgery will add to the defenseman's recovery time. The operation will be done in Baltimore by Dr. Tom Graham of the National Hand Center.

The decision to have a third operation was made Friday after a day of meetings with Pronger, his agent and Blues executives.

"We all decided that now is the prudent time to get it done,'' Pronger said.

The 28-year-old Pronger, the NHL's MVP two seasons ago, injured the wrist last February when he was hit by a puck. A metal plate was inserted to aid healing.

Pain limited his ability to use his stick and he had a second operation on the wrist in May.

"The surgery is pretty complex but the goals are to help me recover motion and relieve pain,'' Pronger said. "If they see something else wrong when they're in there they will fix it.''

Pronger also is recovering from a torn knee ligament.

Last season, Pronger played in 78 games and was second on the Blues with 40 assists and led the team with 161 blocked shots while averaging nearly 30 minutes per game.