Brandon Sutter's return to the lineup following an early November injury has gone from a mystery to a New Year's Resolution, as the Canucks announced Wednesday that the centre had undergone sports hernia surgery and will miss the rest of December at least. From a release:

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning confirmed that Brandon Sutter underwent successful surgery to repair a sports hernia yesterday. article continues below “Following a period of treatment and evaluation our medical team determined that the best course of action for Brandon was to perform this procedure,” said Benning. “The surgery was successful and we expect a full recovery.”

Sorry, make that successful sports hernia surgery, although I've always wondered why this word makes it into these releases. How do we know it's successful yet? Seems to me Sutter's actually more injured right now; he's probably got open wounds and stuff. Like Benning, I expect a full recovery -- we should see him sometime in January, if he stays with the 4-6 week timeline -- but until then, calling the surgery successful seems weirdly premature. That's like giving birth and announcing that you've become a successful parent. Talk to me when the kid gets a job. But I digress.

If you're wondering what it's like to live with a hernia, this helpful video should clear that right up for you:

Sounds terrible.

This is a big blow for the Canucks, who have struggled in Sutter's absence, especially on the penalty-kill:

The Canucks have gone 2-5-3 without Sutter. They've given up 11 power-play goals in those 10 games. — Jason Brough (@JasonPHT) December 2, 2015

The depth chart suffers as well. The Canucks may be rebuilding, but probably didn't expect to be rebuilding quite so hard this season. Sutter was acquired to give young centres lke Bo Horvat and Jared McCann time to develop at a reasonable pace, but his absence has forced Willie Desjardins to ask a great deal of the both of them -- arguably more than either centre is ready for, and definitely more than Desjardins is ready to give them.

That might be a good thing, however. If Willie had the option to under-deploy his kids, he'd seize it. The Sutter injury forces his hand, and while trial by fire is never the preferred option in prospect development, McCann in particular has looked up for the task. It's tantalizing to imagine what kind of player he could be by next year if he can handle this increased pressure.

Sutter's surgery probably also forces the Canucks' hand in regards to the World Juniors. Hockey Canada has contacted the Canucks about the availability of both McCann and Jake Virtanen -- with this surgery, one imagines the latter is a great deal more available than the former. If Sutter was healthy, the Canucks might be able to part with McCann for a time. But there's no way they can spare him now.

Hockey Canada could use McCann. The Canucks need him.