Jake Sanderson keeps stacking up the kind of season that makes you stop and realize how complete his game really is. Even after missing 13 games in 2025-26, the Ottawa Senators blueliner still managed to elevate his play, anchor a battered defense group, and stay right near the top of the NHL’s best at his position.
He finished with 14 goals and 40 assists, while his pairing with Artem Zub gave Ottawa one of the league’s most dominant top units. The only duo ahead of them in 5-on-5 expected goals share was Tampa Bay’s J.J.
Moser and Darren Raddysh. That’s the level Sanderson is operating at now: not just reliable, but driving results.
What makes him so difficult to play against is the way he can flip the script in the same shift. One moment he’s locking things down defensively, and the next he’s jumping into the attack and tilting the ice the other way.
His speed is a huge part of that, but so is the way he sees the game. He processes plays quickly, makes sharp decisions, and gives Ottawa a defender who can control the tempo from the back end.
That impact showed up in the team numbers, too. Ottawa was the best team in the East at suppressing chances at 5-on-5, sitting behind only Vegas in expected goals against per 60 minutes. Sanderson was a huge part of that, logging 24:50 a night and helping the Senators smother opponents on a consistent basis.
Over the last two seasons, his profile has grown into something that stacks up with the league’s best defencemen. He’s at the top in top speed and discipline, and he’s also a real threat on the power play alongside the game’s elite talent.
Still, there’s one area where he trails the Norris Trophy crowd: even-strength scoring. Sanderson’s 25 points weren’t bad, but they weren’t even the most on his own team, with Artem Zub and Jordan Spence each finishing with 26.
The source material points to Travis Green’s puck-management system as part of the reason Sanderson’s assist totals stay muted. That isn’t framed as a knock on the system; it’s more a reflection of how faithfully Sanderson executes it, choosing team success over chasing numbers.
There’s also the simple matter of personnel. Ottawa doesn’t have a pure goal scorer who can turn Sanderson’s passes into easy assist totals the way some other top defencemen enjoy.
And then there was the health issue at the end of the season, which cost him 15 games. Those things matter in real life, even if Norris voting doesn’t always give them much weight - especially with a 20-plus-point gap separating him from some of his peers.
What doesn’t seem to matter to Sanderson is the individual hardware itself. He’d like to win a Norris Trophy, sure, but the bigger goal is team success and a chance to chase the Stanley Cup every year. Ottawa has him locked in for six more years at $8.05 million per season, a deal that looks like the best contract in the NHL.
The Senators’ 2026-27 season will bring its usual twists, but Sanderson’s role is already clear. He’ll be the steady, elite, team-first defenceman driving the back end, and Ottawa will keep benefiting from a player who seems more interested in winning the ultimate prize than collecting personal trophies. At just 24 years old, he’s still only getting started.
In Other News...
Brad Marchand Is Already Stirring Drama Around The Brady Tkachuk Trade
With Brady Tkachuk now in Florida, the Senators are moving into a new era and one of the biggest decisions on the horizon is who will wear the captains letter next. Tim Stutzle has emerged as a finalist, and the conversation got an extra jolt when Brad Marchand, now with the Panthers, weighed in on social media in a way that quickly turned a routine leadership debate into a little more noise than Ottawa probably wanted.
Stutzle brushed it off, saying he does not care and still respects Marchand as a player, while Drake Batherson also got a look at the exchange and called it typical Marchand. For the Senators, the bigger issue is still internal and far more important than an outside chirp, but the teams next captain is being chosen under a brighter spotlight now, and Marchand managed to make sure of that without even putting on a Senators jersey. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Just Opened A Roster Debate Fans Wont Ignore
Eeli Tolvanen is off the board after signing a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Rangers, and that only sharpens the conversation around what Ottawa is trying to build up front. The Senators have already added William Eklund to their forward group, a move that leans further into skill, but Tolvanen would have offered a different layer with his physical edge, finishing touch and ability to move around the lineup.
For Ottawa, the appeal was never just about another scorer. Tolvanen could have fit alongside the teams more creative forwards while also bringing value on the penalty kill, which is the kind of two-way utility contenders tend to covet. Instead, the Senators are left to weigh whether they have enough of that mix already, or whether the spot Tolvanen filled in New York is exactly the sort of opening they still need to address. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Face Two Huge Decisions After Brady Tkachuks Exit
With Brady Tkachuk now gone, Ottawas front office is working through a pair of franchise-shaping issues at once, and both are tied to the clubs next chapter. One is the contract status of Drake Batherson, an important piece who remains in negotiations with the Senators, with the new NHL CBA deadline adding another layer to how long a deal can be.
The other centers on the dressing room leadership void left behind by Tkachuks move to Florida. Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot are among the top candidates to wear the captains C, and the decision would say plenty about where the Senators believe their identity is headed. How Ottawa handles both matters will go a long way toward defining the team beyond this season. [Read more 🡒]