Ottawa Senators center Josh Norris will be sidelined “an extended period of time” with an upper-body injury, interim coach Jacques Martin said Thursday.
Norris collided with Nashville forward Cole Smith in the second period of Ottawa’s 4-1 loss to the host Predators on Tuesday.
“What happened with Josh I’m hoping and praying it’s not too bad,” teammate Brady Tkachuk said after the game. “Unfortunately, it’s a part of the game and, of course, he is such a big part of our team on the ice, off the ice and in the room. We wanted to win it for him tonight but, unfortunately, we couldn’t.”
Martin said Thursday that he had no additional information and it’s “too early to know” the timeline.
Norris, 24, has 16 goals and 14 assists in 50 games this season after missing the preseason and the first three games because of a shoulder injury in training camp.
He played only eight games last season after a shoulder injury on Oct. 22, 2022. He returned in January 2023 for three games before having season-ending surgery.
“There’s not much you can do,” Martin said of Norris’ injury history. ” … Those are things that you’ve got to take a positive attitude with, put the work in that’s required to do, do the rehab that you have to do and then get back and working at it. It’s just unfortunate because I thought Josh was probably playing his best hockey of the season for us.”
A first-round selection (19th overall) by the San Jose Sharks in the 2017 NHL Draft, Norris was traded to the Senators in September 2018. He has 70 goals and 53 assists for 123 points in 183 games for Ottawa since the 2019-20 season.