Eddie Lack, the Canucks' top goaltending prospect, had successful surgery on his hip on Tuesday, the NHL team said following the procedure.

Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman said Lack was expected to make a full recovery in six months, but said that time-frame was conservative.

“He'll be in camp and in position to compete for a job,” said Gilman.

Training camp opens in mid-September, about seven and a half months from now. Depending, of course, on how the Canucks' lineup looks following the expected trade of Roberto Luongo, Lack was expected to be a prime candidate to back up No. 1 Cory Schneider next season.

But Lack hasn't played since Nov. 24, with the problem initially being called an injured hip flexor, and he won't have played any games for nearly 10 months when training camp begins.

Gilman said Lack's surgery won't have any impact on a Luongo trade – where the Canucks will likely have to get an NHL back-up in any such deal or find a free agent to sign.

The procedure was performed in Vail, Colo., by well-known orthopedic surgeon Dr. Marc Phillippon, the same doctor who operated on Canucks centre Ryan Kesler's torn hip labrum.

Evidently, the surgery wasn't too onerous, as Lack was tweeting on Tuesday afternoon:

'My surgery went very well and I'm focused doing whatever I can to get back quickly! Thanks for all ur thoughts! // stork #GoCanucksGo"

Lack's numbers were markedly below those of his first two AHL seasons. In 13 games, he had a goals against average of 3.00 and a save percentage of .899. His record was 7-4-2-1.

The Canucks other assistant GM, Lorne Henning – who oversees player personnel – said Lack was experiencing soreness in his hip much of the season in the AHL and believes that affected his play.

“Some games he was phenomenal but some games he was feeling it,” said Henning. “It was a big part of (the poorer numbers).”

Henning said the Canucks decided to shut down Lack in late November in hopes that rest would heal the injury.

“He rested it for a while and then he tried to come back, but it didn't feel right,” said Henning. “He went back and rested it again, but it just wasn't working.”

Henning was an assistant coach in Anaheim in 2004 when the Ducks' star goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere suffered a torn hip labrum. Gigeure also went to Dr. Phillippon for surgery and came back as good as ever. He's still playing (Colorado), at 35.

“Giguere had it in Anaheim and he's still playing,” said Henning. “The idea was to get it done now so (Lack) will have time to get some training in before camp.”

The Canucks may also be looking to sign another minor league goaltender, as rookie Joe Cannatta is the only other goaltender they have under contract in the system.