Rask, 30, said the rehabilitation process was relatively easy and that he feels "normal" three months after the surgery. He wanted to return to the ice this week, but it was removed from the Bruins practice rink, so he's aiming to skate next week.
"It's pretty standard, standard procedure and rehab," he said. "I think I [did it] the first three, four weeks here and then after that you're more kind of free to do your normal workouts, so I went back home and now I'm here and I'll start skating here. Not a whole lot different from my usual routine.
"It's like anything. If something's like bugging you all the time, it gets in your head and you're kind of cautious about it, so it's good to hopefully get back on the ice and don't feel anything anywhere."
Rask injured his groin early last season and was scratched for three straight games Oct. 22-26. Except for missing a March 25 game because of a back injury, Rask made it through the season and went 37-20-5 with a 2.23 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in 65 games (64 starts) to help the Bruins into the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in three seasons. He had a 2.24 GAA and .920 save percentage in Boston's six-game loss to the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference First Round.
Rask and Bruins trainers worked hard maintaining and managing the injury after the season ended. After the surgery, he's confident he'll improve his performance this season.
"I think that's what everybody's goal is," Rask said. "That's the only difference. If you feel 100 percent healthy and you feel like you can do everything you want to do, I think that's a goal for me and everybody else."
The Bruins know that a fresher Rask will be healthier and should perform better over a full season. To that end, they haven't made any changes to their goaltending depth chart. Anton Khudobin is expected to return as Rask's backup, with prospects Malcolm Subban and Zane McIntyre possibly challenging for that role.
