McIntosh battled serious knee injuries during the latter stages of his decade-long stint at North Melbourne, with Cats coach Chris Scott acknowledging on Tuesday both parties knew it wasn't going to be all smooth sailing.
The 28-year-old has had arthroscopic surgery to drain some fluid from the knee and is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks.
"Obviously that's going to put a little bit of a dint in his preparation for the early rounds of the season," Scott said.
"We're still hopeful he will be OK for round one but it's not a certainty."
Scott said the latest setback was loosely related to the knee injury that prevented McIntosh from playing any AFL games after round seven last year.
"It's the same knee, but a different problem," Scott said.
"Very minor though.
"It's something the surgery can fix quite quickly.
"He could have put up with discomfort for a long time or we could nip it in the bud and try to give him some relief short-term."
McIntosh was recruited by the Cats to help fill the void left when triple premiership ruckman Brad Ottens retired at the end of the 2011 campaign.
The Cats will be undermanned in the ruck for Saturday's NAB Cup opener against West Coast and Fremantle in Perth, with Nathan Vardy and Dawson Simpson also unavailable.
That leaves Trent West to carry most of the ruck duties.
"We're still extremely confident that over the medium-term, a period of years, (McIntosh) is going to be a very valuable acquisition," Scott said.
"But there's no guarantee.
"And he's no guarantee to force our other young ruckman out of a position in our best team either.
"I don't think he's distraught at this minor setback and neither are we."
The dearth of fit ruckmen notwithstanding, Scott expects Geelong to take a strong squad to Perth for the NAB Cup opener.
James Kelly, Paul Chapman and Josh Hunt will all miss the trip, but big-name recruits Jared Rivers (Melbourne) and Josh Caddy (Gold Coast) will be in the team, as will Travis Varcoe, who was restricted to only one AFL match last year because of a serious foot injury.
Hamish McIntosh is a ruckman in NAB AFL Fantasy. He averaged 90.86 points in 2012. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy Hub.
