This is supposed to be the year the Ottawa Senators find themselves in the playoffs, and, ready to win a series or two. Instead, they are dealing with uncertainties at center. As the regular NHL season is about to begin, head coach D.J. Smith confirmed that Josh Norris, who only played eight games last season, and when healthy is their top center, will remain out of the lineup, indefinitely. 

“At this point, I’m being told he’s just unable to play. With injuries, things happen sometimes where maybe it didn’t rehab quite the way they had expected.” – DJ Smith

Norris out indefinitely for Senators with shoulder injuryhttps://t.co/bufS3nwsXn

— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) October 7, 2023

Norris continues to be bothered by the same shoulder he had surgery on last season. The expectation was for Norris to bolster the Senators offensive depth. Another setback has changed those plans.  Unfortunately for him and the Senators, the 24-year-old aggravated the injury while skating in preparation for training camp in early September. Because of this, he began training camp wearing a non-contact jersey. Soon after being cleared for contact by team doctors, he suffered yet another setback. 

The Senators reduced their roster to 12 forwards, six defencemen and two goalies leaving themselves with $62K in cap space per @CapFriendly. Not sure what the plan is if Josh Norris doesn't go on LTIR.

— Graeme Nichols (@GraemeNichols) October 8, 2023

This leaves 21-year-old rookie center Ridley Grieg, with only 20 games of NHL experience, as their second-line center. This is a role more suited to Shane Pinto, who had proven himself a highly capable two-way center last season. Unfortunately, Pierre Doiron and the Senators painted themselves into a corner with the salary cap and haven’t been able to pay him what he is worth. 

@thecriermedia NHL channel looks at Shane Pinto and the Ottawa Senators#Senshttps://t.co/EFPKDlq1Zq

— Blain (@BlainPotvin_THW) September 4, 2023

But that is on paper, with Norris out indefinitely, that will lead to the player being placed on LTIR. Once he is, that will provide up to $7.9 million in relief, some of which will be used to sign Pinto and temporarily solve their lack of center depth. 

But……. 

Even with the addition of Pinto, the scoring depth Norris brought will be missed. This will place more of a burden on others to provide more goals. This burden will need to be shared by committee as more will be expected from Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle but also, the new additions of Dominik Kubalik and Vladamir Tarasenko. 

The Senators have a very good young team, but without a one-two punch up the middle with two true top-six centers, it will make it difficult to earn a playoff spot in the Atlantic division, the NHL’s most competitive division.