Ottawa Senators lose young star, Josh Norris, to surgery for rest of season
Josh Norris of the Ottawa Senators will be placed on IR and undergo season-ending surgery on his shoulder, according to ESPN.
The 23-year-old center has missed 38 games this season, following shoulder ailment he suffered while taking a faceoff against Arizona. Norris suffered the injury only five games into his season on Oct. 22, 2022.
The Senators eventually cleared Norris to play on Jan. 18. He would go on to score one goal in the three games he returned for, until the reaggregation of his shoulder in a game against the Winnipeg Jets — the game in which he tallied a goal.
Senators coach D.J. Smith commented on Norris’ injury and coming back from it in his last three games.
“He tried,” Smith said, via NHL.com. “Did his best to join the boys, but re-injured it in the third period just reaching. He didn’t want to leave the bench to make a big deal of it, but he was done halfway through. He wanted to do it because he didn’t want to have surgery and thought maybe he could rehab this. Unfortunately, the timeline isn’t great because he’ll be fully recovered by maybe the summer.“
Fellow Senators forward Shane Pinto addressed the loss of Norris this season.
“There’s no replacing a guy like him,” Pinto said, via NHL.com. “Besides the hockey, just for the guy himself, I feel for him. I went through it last year, the same instance. Just as a person, as a buddy of his, I just feel bad. He’s going to come back stronger for us next year and I’m excited to see what he does. I think you’ve got to try the rehab part of it first. That’s what I did, and that’s what he did. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, but I think you have to try it. I wouldn’t just quit on it.”
On July 14, 2022, Norris signed an eight-year, $63.6 million extension with the Senators after a stellar campaign in the 2021-22 season. In 66 games, he scored 35 goals, 20 assists, for a total of 55 points that season — all career highs. Definitely worth a big payday for the future cornerstone for the Senators.
Hopefully, Josh Norris will be able to recover fast and pick up where he left off in the 2021-22 campaign to continue his young, stellar career for Ottawa.
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