"I'm not going to play tonight. It feels pretty good, but still a little bit left to go," the two-time Norris Trophy winner, who had surgery to repair torn tendons June 14, said after taking part in the morning skate. "It's going to be day-to-day moving on from here, but overall I feel like I'm getting to where I want to go and when I'm out there practicing with the team, it feels like I'm getting closer every day."
Karlsson did not play in Ottawa's season-opening 5-4 shootout loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday. General manager Pierre Dorion said before that game the Senators were hopeful Karlsson would be ready by Saturday.
Ottawa's next game is at the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, when the Senators begin a three-game road trip through Western Canada, with games at the Calgary Flames on Friday and at the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 14.
Karlsson isn't sure when he'll be able to play.
"We're still fairly early in the process. I don't know if I've even skated 10 times yet," he said. "Once we get moving forward here, I think it's going to move along fairly fast. There's still some small issues that are probably going to bother me playing a game or playing against other opponents where you're going to be checked all the time."
