The Ottawa Senators expected to have center Josh Norris in their lineup to begin the season, but it appears he won’t be ready after missing most of last season with a shoulder injury.
Norris, 24, was penciled in to center Ottawa’s top power-play unit and likely open on a line with Vladimir Tarasenko and Drake Batherson in Wednesday’s season opener at the Carolina Hurricanes.
“Right now, the training staff and doctors are telling me he’s not going to play. It’s unfortunate,” coach D.J. Smith told reporters Saturday. “I know the kid wants to play hockey. As a coaching staff, we’ve had to change some things around. Our power play, we always have Josh in that one-time spot. Never did we think that possibly we’d start the year without him, and it certainly looks that way.”
Following a 35-goal campaign in 2021-22, Norris signed an eight-year, $63.6 million deal. However, he was limited to just eight games last season after injuring a shoulder Oct. 22 against the Arizona Coyotes. Norris returned in January, only to reinjure the shoulder and undergo surgery in February.
On Sept. 20, general manager Pierre Dorion called Norris’ issue “very minor” as the center wore a noncontact yellow jersey after it was revealed that he tweaked something in the shoulder.
Norris eventually shed the yellow jersey and continues to practice with the team. He doesn’t appear to be limited, but he hasn’t been cleared to return to game action.
“We all thought Josh would go through a little bit of practice, take a few bumps and get in an exhibition game and away we’d go,” Smith said Saturday. “And that just didn’t happen.”
With the regular season less than a week away, it appears likely that the Senators will put Norris on long-term injured reserve Monday, which would open up cap space to re-sign center Shane Pinto.
“It’s certainly not what we envisioned, but what choice do we have?” Smith said. “You have to put your best group out there. We’ve been playing without them throughout camp.
“At some point we know Pinto will be here. At some point, hopefully, Josh is here. All we can do is our best with what we have. We still think we’re good enough and competitive enough to be in every game.”