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Nathan Horton's playing career in Columbus may be over before it really got started.

After signing a lucrative contract with the Blue Jackets just over a year ago, injuries plagued his first season with the team. Horton was able to dress in just 35 regular season games, and didn't play in the playoffs.

He's missed the first portion of the 2014-15 season, and there's no guarantee he'll play at all this year.

Horton has been out of the lineup with a serious degeneration issue in his spine, according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.

Surgery may be required to help fix the issue, and if that's the case he may never play again.

Friedman: "If Nathan Horton has the surgery, his career is probably over." #CBJ

— Chris Nichols (@NicholsOnHockey) October 21, 2014

Obviously you want to remain optimistic in situations like this, but at this point his playing future looks pretty bleak.

The health of Horton is the most important thing, but the Blue Jackets have to move on with or without him, and they may need to look for help elsewhere to bolster their lineup.

There's a lot of moving parts right now, so it'll be interesting to see how all of this plays out.

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