OTTAWA — Injured Ottawa Senators forward Clarke MacArthur said Saturday that he's making progress and is hopeful he will receive medical clearance to play sometime early in the New Year.

The veteran left-winger has suffered four concussions in the last 18 months.

"If they'll clear me to play, I want to play," MacArthur said. "Things are slowly getting better. You never know when they're going to actually clear you, but I'm going to keep taking the next steps and hopefully get into contact (situations at practice) by the end of the L.A. trip or somewhere in that (area) is what I'm hoping for.

"We've got to obviously do the test and get through the test, but if I'm medically cleared I'm for sure playing."

The Senators were scheduled to host the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

McArthur will accompany the Senators on their four-game road trip next week. General manager Pierre Dorion has said he's 100 per cent certain MacArthur would play again this season.

MacArthur, 31, was excited at the start of training camp after missing all but four games last season due to a concussion. However, he was hit during an intra-squad scrimmage at camp and hasn't played since.

He has been skating with the team and is making progress in his recovery, but knows he needs to be cautious.

"I've seen a few different doctors and their opinions I'll keep to myself, but I'll probably have to go see one more," he said. "For me I want to play. It's my choice at the end of the day and if I get cleared and it's on me, I'm going to play. The way things kind of ended I don't want it to end like that if possible. I feel like I can still play."

Married with two young children, MacArthur knows many will likely question his decision to return if given the opportunity.

While he understands the concern and knows the risk, he's just not ready to walk away from the game if he's deemed healthy.

"I haven't been able to fulfil anything in this contract that I signed and that's kind of a cloud over top of me," MacArthur said. "You want to get back and earn your money and do what you're supposed to do and that's obviously something that's been bugging me for some time here. I definitely want to get out here and do what I can."

MacArthur signed a five-year contract extension worth US$23.25 million in 2014. The Senators would love to have him back in the lineup, but they have made it clear their first concern is his overall health.

MacArthur, meanwhile, has his own expectations and believes he still has a lot to offer.

"I'm sure when I get back it's going to be an adjustment early on," he said. "But once I get in real game shape and back at it, I have full confidence that I'll be able to get back to what I was before, whatever that was."