Senators' Josh Norris needs shoulder surgery, will miss balance of season
Up-and-coming forward returned to lineup last week following 38-game absence
The season is over for Ottawa Senators forward Josh Norris.
General manager Pierre Dorion announced Monday that Norris will undergo shoulder surgery and miss the rest of the 2022-23 campaign.
Norris returned to the lineup last Wednesday after missing 38 games with a shoulder injury.
He scored the Senators' lone goal in Saturday's 5-1 loss to Winnipeg and has three points in eight games this season.
The 23-year-old centre had 35 goals and 55 points in 66 contests last season.
Senators teammate Shane Pinto went through an eerily similar turn of events last season. He injured his shoulder early in the 2021-22 season, and then came back only to re-injure the same shoulder and require surgery.
"There's no replacing a guy like [Norris]. Besides hockey, just for the guy himself I feel for him. I went through it last year, the same incidences. Just as a person, as a buddy of his I feel bad," Pinto said.
Sens call up Greig, shuffle lines
The 20-23-3 Senators, who continue to struggle defensively, are 2-6-0 in their last eight and appear to be trending in the wrong direction.
Not surprisingly head coach D.J. Smith said changes are forthcoming.
"We're going to shuffle the top nine," he said. "I mean there's guys that are minus every night and it just can't continue. That's on me for allowing them to keep playing together or certain guys to play together and if you're getting scored on it's not working, so we're going to work on every line and we're going to grind our way out of this.
WATCH l Jets breeze past Senators 5-1 on Saturday:
With files from Radio-Canada's Jonathan Jobin
