Blue Jackets F Nathan Horton skates for first time since June

After an MRI on his surgically repaired left shoulder came back positive, free agent acquisition Nathan Horton skated for the first time as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday, albeit without a stick.

“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."

Horton - who signed a seven year, $37.1 million deal with Columbus this past summer - hopes to be able to start stick handling on Thursday, and is believed to be  “a month, month and half” from making his Blue Jackets debut.