The forward missed nearly three months with a shoulder injury. He left midway through the third period of a 6-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 22 and returned for a 5-4 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 18.
Norris missed 15 games last season.
"He tried," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "Did his best to join the boys, but reinjured it in the third period just reaching. He didn't want to leave the bench to make a big deal of it, but he was done halfway through. He wanted to do it because he didn't want to have surgery and thought maybe he could rehab this. Unfortunately, the timeline isn't great because he'll be fully recovered by maybe the summer.
"Ultimately, it's his decision as a player. He talked to his surgeon in the United States
, chosen by Ottawa in the first round (No. 28) of the 2020 NHL Draft, was recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League. The 20-year-old forward has 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists) in 28 games of his first full professional season.
"The plan was for Ridly, at some point, to be up here, probably more later in the year, but he's been their best player now for probably about a month down there," Smith said. "And with Norris going out, I think this a perfect time. There's four games until the break. Give him a look and see how he is, and make an assessment after that."
The Senators (20-23-3) host the New York Islanders at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday.
NHL.com independent correspondent Callum Fraser contributed to this report
