Senators’ Josh Norris to miss at least two weeks with shoulder injury
According to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, Senators forward Josh Norris will be out for at least two weeks due to a left shoulder injury.
Josh Norris will be out at least two weeks. Hope to know more in the next couple of days. Waiting on MRI #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) October 24, 2022The team is still awaiting MRI results to determine how long Norris will be out.
After taking a faceoff, the 23-year-old left Ottawa’s game on Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes, immediately skating off to the dressing room. Norris scored earlier in the game in an eventual 6-2 victory.
Norris has a goal and an assist for Ottawa through five games this season.
Any missed time is a tough pill to swallow for the Senators. Norris missed 15 games last year with an injury to the same shoulder but still managed to score 35 goals and 55 points. Norris also required shoulder to repair the same shoulder following the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship. That forced him to miss six months rehabbing the injury, costing him precious development time.
With Norris gone, Derrick Brassard – brought back to the Senators after a successful PTO this fall – has stepped into a second-line role with Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat in the meantime.
The Senators are also without goaltender Cam Talbot after he suffered an upper-body injury during the pre-season. Talbot skated for the first time last week.
Hopefully for the Senators, Norris’ injury isn’t too severe. But given his history with that shoulder in particular, they’re not going to take any risks, especially this early in the season.
The Senators sit sixth in the tight Atlantic Division race with a 3-2-0 record through five games. The Boston Bruins sit first with 10 points, while Ottawa is tied with Tampa Bay and Montreal.