Jake Sanderson’s status is the big one hanging over the Senators as they head toward Saturday’s season opener in Toronto.
Ottawa’s No. 1 defenseman has been dealing with an undisclosed injury for the past week, and while he skated on his own in Ottawa today, he still wasn’t ready to join the full group. Per Julian McKenzie of The Athletic, the Senators had hoped Sanderson would be able to skate with the team today, but the earliest that can happen now is Friday. He has not been ruled out for the opener against the Maple Leafs.
If Sanderson can’t go, Ottawa will have to absorb a major hit on the blue line. The 24-year-old, who was the No. 5 pick in 2020, put together a career year in 2025-26 with 14 goals and 54 points in 67 games.
He handled a huge workload for Travis Green, logging 24:50 per game, which ranked ninth in the NHL, and he was a key piece on both sides of special teams. Without him, newly named captain Thomas Chabot slides back into the top defenseman role he held before Sanderson emerged as Ottawa’s lead blueliner.
There’s more uncertainty up front, too. Veteran winger Andre Burakovsky will not play this weekend as he continues to recover from an upper-body injury.
Ottawa brought the 31-year-old in over the summer in a trade aimed at adding veteran scoring depth, and he arrives with a $5.5MM AAV deal that runs through next summer. Burakovsky scored 11 goals and 33 points in 75 games for the Chicago Blackhawks last season and has twice reached the 20-goal mark in his career.
When he’s ready, he could battle Hayden Hodgson for a fourth-line spot.
Green also said today that he is hopeful Warren Foegele will be available for Saturday’s opener, though his status remains questionable because of an undisclosed injury. Foegele skated today, but the club still doesn’t know whether he’ll be ready for Toronto. The 30-year-old, who has played nearly 600 NHL games, is entering his first full season with Ottawa after arriving in a March trade from the Los Angeles Kings.
In Other News...
Jake Sanderson Status Leaves Senators Blue Line In Doubt Before Leafs
Three days before the season opener, the Senators were already having to shuffle their blue line. Jake Sanderson did not take part in team practice Wednesday and instead skated on his own because of an unspecified injury, a concern for a group that was still trying to settle into its opening-night look. Head coach Travis Green said Sanderson is not ready for practice, and Ottawa will keep evaluating him before the trip.
The uncertainty comes at an inconvenient time with the Leafs waiting in the opener. Ottawa adjusted its defensive pairings at practice to cover for Sandersons absence, and the club is still sorting through its options on the back end. For a team that wants to start cleanly in a division game right out of the gate, losing one of its top defencemen from full practice is not the kind of timing it wanted. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Just Reopened A Frustrating Goalie Development Debate
The Senators latest goalie shuffle has put a familiar organizational debate back in the spotlight. Leevi Merilainen, once viewed as a promising part of Ottawas future after some strong showings in earlier seasons, has been moved off the NHL path for now after a difficult 2025-26 campaign sent him down to the AHL. The decision underscores how quickly the margin can tighten for young goaltenders, especially when the team is sorting out backup duties and trying to balance present stability with long-term upside.
The fallout did not stop there. Ottawa needed another body in the system, so it brought in Jonas Johansson from Tampa Bay to help shore up the crease for its AHL affiliate, a move that speaks to how much depth matters when goalie development gets messy. For the Senators, the bigger question lingers in the background: whether this was simply a necessary roster call or the latest chapter in a frustrating pattern of trying to turn promise into something lasting. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Still Have One Roster Need That Could Decide Their Ceiling
Craig Buttons recent take on the Senators centered on how far they have come under Travis Green, with better coaching and improved goaltending helping push the group into a more credible spot. He also flagged the ripple effect of losing Brady Tkachuk and bringing in William Eklund, a reminder that Ottawas identity is still being shaped as it tries to turn progress into something more lasting.
The bigger question, though, is whether the lineup has enough finishing touch to match the rest of the structure. Button suggested the Senators could still use more goal-scoring punch, even if the answer is not some towering 40-goal name, and he also leaned into the long-term promise of Jake Sanderson as the kind of defenseman who could eventually sit in the Norris Trophy conversation. For a team trying to climb, those are the kinds of details that can determine whether the ceiling is merely respectable or something higher. [Read more 🡒]