With the 2025-26 season approaching quickly, it is time to start looking at what the Ottawa Senators have to work with. They finally made it back to the playoffs, but this season is going to be about building off the success they found last season.
In this 2025-26 Player Preview series, we are going to look at all of the players and what to look for from them this season, starting with Jake Sanderson.
Sanderson by the Numbers
Drafted: 5th Overall (First Round) in 2020 by the Senators
Position: Defense (shoots left)
Height/Weight: 6-foot-2, 204 pounds
Age/Birthdate: 23 years old (7/08/2002)
Country: United States
2024-25 Stats: 11 goals, 46 assists, 57 points in 80 games
Career Stats: 25 goals, 102 assists, 127 points in 236 games
How He Got Here
After being selected fifth overall in 2020, a lot of people had some trouble justifying the selection. It didn’t take any time at all for people to start to recognize that Sanderson had the potential to be a star defenseman. Through his first three seasons, Sanderson has earned a big extension, earning over $8 million per season, and has turned into a phenomenal two-way threat on the back end.
Sanderson’s play has earned him votes for the Calder Trophy, the Lady Byng twice, and he finished 10th in Norris Trophy voting last season. The NHL Network rated Sanderson as the 13th-best defenseman in the league and the fourth-best player in the league under 26 years old, trailing just fellow defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, teammate Tim Stutzle, and Jack Hughes.
Related: Ottawa Senators Stanley Cup Checklist – 2025 Offseason Update
Sanderson earned himself a spot on the 4 Nations Face-Off roster for Team USA and played very well, including his go-ahead goal in the final game of the tournament. He has also been invited to Team USA’s Olympic camp.
Sanderson’s Role in 2025-26
It is pretty simple to lay out what Sanderson’s role is for this season. He is going to be on the top power play, he is going to kill penalties, and be the go-to guy for even strength. His role is to do it all, and he has done a good job of doing that so far in his career.
The Senators struggled with 5-on-5 scoring last season, and Sanderson was a part of that. Sanderson scored just 17 5-on-5 points last season, ranking 13th on the team. While he isn’t in his role to be producing at a point-per-game pace or anything, seeing some more offensive play from him at even strength wouldn’t hurt the team.
On the defensive side of the puck, Sanderson just needs to keep doing what he is doing. He has a very smart stick; he can play physical hockey, but it isn’t his go-to style, and he skates like the wind. He puts all of those physical skills together with his great hockey IQ, and he can be one of the best defensive defensemen in the league, plus having 60-point upside.
With the Senators’ top four being fairly old by NHL standards, Sanderson is taking the opportunity to be the go-to guy and running with it. While his partner for the season hasn’t been cemented yet, playing alongside Artem Zub was a good thing for him.
For a big chunk of last season, Sanderson was tied to Travis Hamonic. While Hamonic has some valuable qualities, he and Sanderson play at very different speeds, and shouldn’t be put into the same situations. Sanderson often had to hold back offensively and play less riskily, while also having to cover the defensive side even more carefully.
Outside of Sanderson just being really good and having that as a positive asset, it also puts Thomas Chabot in a better place, allowing him to thrive with less ice time than he was used to throughout the course of the rebuild.
The maturity and skill that Sanderson has demonstrated throughout the early runnings of his career have turned the Senators franchise around. He is one of the main reasons they were able to break their playoff-less streak, and will be a factor in their plan moving forward to hopefully compete for the Stanley Cup.
