Josh Norris to Play First Game in Nine Months Wednesday Night

Josh Norris is finally ready to give it another try.

Senators' head coach D.J. Smith told reporters that the plan is for Norris to suit up for his first game in nine months Wednesday night against the Washington Capitals. Based on the setups at practice, Norris will likely skate on a line between Drake Batherson and Dominik Kubalik and play on the top power play unit.

Norris's shoulder had already been surgically repaired once before after an injury at the World Junior Hockey Championships in 2019. Since then, he's had a few more injuries to the same shoulder and, after each one, he went the rehab route. 

After repeatedly reinjuring it, once last October while taking a simple faceoff and then again during a bump in the neutral zone in January, Norris decided to get it surgically repaired again. 

So it was tough news last month to hear that he had tweaked it again before training camp, causing him to miss the entire preseason. And then, apparently, had another setback during camp.

It's certainly possible that Norris has required some extra time to deal with things that aren't physical. With a bright NHL future on the line, it can't be easy from a mental standpoint to fully trust a shoulder that probably feels to him, at this point, like it's made of glass and pretzels.

So the plan is for Josh Norris to play Wednesday night. And the plan for Sens fans is to hold their breath during every bodycheck and faceoff.