The Blue Jackets needed some good news and on Wednesday, they got some.
Nathan Horton, the club’s prized $37 million free agent signing, skated today for the first time since undergoing major shoulder surgery this summer and, what’s more, his latest MRI revealed the shoulder is rehabbing well.
“The doctors here looked at it and it looks really good,” Horton told the Columbus Dispatch. “It looks like we’re on track still and that’s the good news that we wanted.
“I can’t read the thing, but you can see that it’s healing or healed and I think they got the news that they wanted.”
As a result, Horton has put a timetable on his Jackets debut at “a month, month-and-a-half.”
Columbus will be keen to get him back in the lineup. Losers of four straight, the club was called out by head coach Todd Richards following Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Ottawa, with Richards saying the players “have to look in the mirror.”
The Jackets have just six goals scored over their last four games and could use the production of Horton, a six-time 20-goal scorer.