Thomas Chabot and Ridly Greig Nearing Return to Senators Lineup

There were some interesting health-related updates from Ottawa Senators' practice on Tuesday morning. 

Ridly Greig returned to practice in a regular contact jersey. He centered a line between Mathieu Joseph and Vladimir Tarasenko. That line was incredibly effective in their brief time together this season until Greig's injury on November 2nd. Tarasenko has no goals since Greig got injured and hasn't scored in 10 games. 

Greig left the ice 15 minutes into practice Tuesday, and didn't seem to be in any discomfort. Head coach D.J. Smith says they'll have more of an update on Greig's status on Thursday.

Smith was pressed on whether Greig could play Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"He's a young guy," Smith said. "We're not going to put him in a spot if he's unable to go."

Meanwhile, defenceman Thomas Chabot looks likely to return on Friday. 

"We think Chabot is ready," Smith said. "We'll see Thursday, but we're thinking he's gonna play."

Chabot says he probably could have returned earlier if it weren't for Long-Term Injured Reserve. 

"Probably, I like to think so," Chabot said. "I've been skating for over two weeks, and everything has been good. So, I would probably say yes. I felt pretty comfortable." 

Upon being placed on LTIR, Chabot could not play until the Senators had played ten games and 30 days had passed from his injury on October 26th, the Senators' 11th game since his injury is Friday against Columbus. Parking his contract on LTIR helped the Sens with some much-needed cap relief.

Chabot told The Hockey News Ottawa about his challenges returning to the lineup after a long hiatus.

"Luckily enough for me that team has had a lot of practice time," Chabot said. "I've been practicing almost every day with the team. Practice will never be like game speed, but luckily enough, I've been around the team, getting the reps in, and should be good to go."

All signs point to Chabot returning on Friday.