Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion said Monday that centre Josh Norris does not require shoulder surgery at the moment after consulting with five doctors and two specialists.
Dorion added it's a "completely different" shoulder injury than the one that sidelined Norris in the past.
"We initially thought that he would require surgery," Dorion said. "Last week he went and met with two specialists and they both indicated that with this type of injury, we could look at rehab and strengthening, and that's what he's going to do until the new year and at that point in time we'll see what path we go down.
"We just feel with the timeline if he has surgery now, or let's just say in the new year, it doesn't affect anything because it's probably a six-month thing."
Dorion added he doesn't know if Norris will still need surgery in the future but added: "All I know is that we'll have an update in January ... or the new year and at that point in time we'll see where we're going to go with Josh."
Norris went down during the Senators' 6-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 22. The team did not know if Norris needed surgery at the time but expected him to miss three-to-five months.
Despite missing 15 games due to a shoulder injury last season, he led the club with 35 goals and finished third on the team with 55 points in 66 games.
The 23-year-old from Oxford, Mich., had one goal and one assist in five games this season.
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