Tuukka Rask wasn't ready to reveal the exact nature of his lingering injury after Wednesday's season-ending Game 6 loss, but he did on Friday during his end-of-season press conference.
Rask said he was dealing with a torn labrum in his hip and will be undergoing surgery on it within the next month.
Rask also said he doesn't plan to retire and wants to play next season, but acknowledged that the recovery time after surgery will keep him out until probably January or February.
"I do. Mentally I'm up for that," Rask said. "And the physical aspect, hopefully everything goes well. Probably looking at January or February return to hockey. That's kind of the plan, and hopefully it works out."
Rask reiterated what he has said in the past, which is that he has no intention to play for another NHL team despite being an unrestricted free agent. If the Bruins don't want to re-sign him, he said he would cross that bridge when he gets there.
"Like I said before, I'm not going to play for anybody else other than the Bruins," Rask said. "This is our home. We have three kids. The kids enjoy it here. They have friends and school. At this point in my life and career, I don't see any reason to go anywhere else."
He said he would definitely be open to some sort of mentorship role with young goalies Jeremy Swayman and Dan Vladar given that he would miss the first few months of the season himself.
"That's what I've been talking about with [general manager Don Sweeney] and the coaching staff too," Rask said. "I've played enough hockey -- it's getting to a point where any way I can be helpful for these young guys, I want to do it. Who knows what the goaltending situation is going to look like when the season starts, but I'm definitely up for helping in any way I can."
Rask said he actually started experiencing an issue with the hip last summer in the bubble, but that it wasn't bad enough to require surgery. Things got worse during this season, though. Rask said he started compensating with other muscles and that's what led to the noticeable back injury he suffered at one point in the regular season.
"It never got to a point where I couldn't play," Rask said. "The reason why I missed time during the season was because I was compensating my hip injury with other muscles, and then my back seized up and I could barely walk for a week. That's why I missed time.
"The hip itself was never the issue. It just locks up on me every once in a while. That's why you see me kind of limping out there. It's not easy to play with a hip labral tear as a goalie, but like I said a couple days ago, I think our training staff did a great job maintaining it and keeping me out there."