Blue Jackets president on Nathan Horton's return: 'Who knows with backs?'

Columbus Blue Jackets president John Davidson says there's no clear timeline for forward Nathan Horton to return to the ice as he suffers from a degenerative back injury.

Davidson said in an interview Tuesday on the Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast (Oct. 7 edition, at the 24:00 mark) that Horton and the Blue Jacket are going to take a wait-and-see approach in terms of his progress. 

"We're going to rest it, work it, rest it, work it," said Davidson. "It may take a month, it may take six months, it make take a year. Who knows with backs?

"But he wants to play, we want him to play and it's just a bad stroke of luck as to what's happened here. 

"We're going to keep him busy, we're going to keep him in rehab, we're going to attempt to do some things and it's hopefully a situation where he can get through it and get back to being the player that we know he can be. "

Horton, 29, was limited to only 36 games due to injury during his first season of a seven-year deal worth $37.1 million with the Blue Jackets.