Buffalo Sabres forward Josh Norris is set to miss a “significant amount of time” after suffering an upper body injury on Thursday.
Head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters that the injury is not related to the season ending injury suffered last year, but that he will nevertheless be out indefinitely. The 26 year old went down in visible pain off a face-off against the New York Rangers, and would not return to the game.
Norris is no stranger to injuries over the course of his NHL career. The former first round pick has yet to appear in more than 66 games in a season, dealing with a variety of ailments from his shoulder, to his core and more. When healthy, Norris is a high level scorer, notching 35 goals in just 66 games with the Ottawa Senators back in 2021-22. Across 56 games split between Ottawa and Buffalo last season, he tallied 21 markers, which was on pace for another 30 goal season had he not gone down 3 games into his Buffalo tenure.
The Oxford, MI, native was acquired by the Sabres alongside Jacob Bernard-Docker at last season’s trade deadline in exchange for Dylan Cozens, Dennis Gilbert, and a 2nd round pick.
While Buffalo’s medical team is continuing to evaluate the options on the table, given his past track record, it’s not unreasonable to think that Norris could be headed for surgery. The Sabres are next in action against the Boston Bruins on Saturday at 7pm ET.
Photo: Michael Barera. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.