OTTAWA — Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza will have surgery for a herniated disc on Friday and will be lost to the team indefinitely, general manager Bryan Murray said Thursday.

Murray gave no time frame on when Spezza could possibly be ready to return, but he’s hoping Spezza could be back late in the season and be available if the Senators qualify for the playoffs.

Typically, it takes between 6-8 weeks for a player to recover from herniated disc surgery.

Murray says Spezza — who has had back issues in the past and had a previous disc surgery in 2006 — knew something was wrong during Sunday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Spezza finished the game, and even took part in the shootout.

On Monday, however, he consulted with team doctors and then went to Toronto to see an expert. While it was possible that Spezza could have tried to play through the pain — perhaps skipping games from time to time — both he and Murray believed the best solution was to have the surgery now.

For the time being, the Senators won’t try to pursue a replacement through a trade, hoping that the club can weather the storm by using players within the organization.

If there’s one positive for the team in the midst of the Spezza surgery, it’s that 19-year-old Mika Zibanejad, recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League on Monday, has been outstanding in the past two games. Zibanejad has scored a goal — his first in the NHL — and an assist and has been an official game star in both games.