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MacArthur skating, feeling great: 'I can't wait to get back'

Kim Klement / USA TODAY Sports

The offseason is barely underway, but Clarke MacArthur would love for it to be over.

After playing in only four games for the Ottawa Senators last season due to a concussion, the left winger is symptom-free and skating twice a week at home in Rochester, N.Y., writes the Ottawa Citizen's Bruce Garrioch.

"I usually don't skate until August but I just felt with the time off last year, it would be good to knock the rust off sooner than later and give myself a better chance," MacArthur told Garrioch.

MacArthur said he's feeling as good as he has in months. He would have suited up in the playoffs had the Senators made it - he'd been taking part in full-contact practice for three weeks late in the season - but with Ottawa out of the postseason picture, the decision to sit out the remainder of its games was a relatively easy one.

"From the last month of the season on, I've had no symptoms so that's got to be a good sign," he said. "I can't wait to get back."

MacArthur met with new head coach Guy Boucher over the weekend at the NHL draft in Buffalo and came away excited about the prospect of playing for him.

"It should all be positive," the 31-year-old said of Boucher's impact on the team.

MacArthur's signed through 2020 at a cap hit of $4.65 million. He's a three-time 20-goal scorer, and his 24 goals in 2013-14 - his first season with Ottawa - were a career high.

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