If healing the mind comes before the body, then Nathan Horton appears to have made the right decision in holding off on career-ending back surgery.

Horton had a "little light in his eye" when he joined the Columbus Blue Jackets on their road trip through Florida this week, president of hockey operations John Davidson said, invoking optimism for the club and his once-bleak future in the NHL.

"There's been some progress there. He is feeling a little better," Davidson told Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch.

"I don't know what that means in the big picture, but he's better now than he was earlier this season. His whole attitude was different - better - than the last time we saw him."

Just three months ago, Horton revealed he was wrestling with the decision whether to stop the pain caused by his degenerative back condition by having multiple vertebrae fused together, or to push onward in hopes of continuing his hockey career.

"I don't want to live with this pain, but I don't want to make that decision," the forward told Portzline in November. "It's hard for me to say that, at 29 years old, I’m done. I mean, really? Done at 29?"

Horton may have wavered - and understandably so - but there's always been faith inside the Blue Jackets' room.

"In my heart, I've always believed he's going to play again," head coach Todd Richards said. "I still feel that way."