Heading into the 2024 offseason, the Senators, who were under an entirely new regime for their first full offseason, had some pretty clear goals. The goaltending and defense group needed a significant upgrade. Acquiring Linus Ullmark is looked at as the biggest move the Senators made, and rightfully so, but arguably just as important was the acquisition of Nick Jensen, who has helped stabilize the Senators’ defense group.
Trading Jakob Chychrun Made Perfect Sense
Very few people who watch the NHL regularly would say that Jakob Chychrun isn’t a great defenseman. He is thriving with the Washington Capitals in 2024-25, and had some great seasons with the Arizona Coyotes prior to being acquired by the Senators. The consensus is that he is a top-pair defenseman on most teams, and with his great offensive abilities and good defensive awareness, most teams would want him on their team.
For the Senators, the hope was that he would transition well to the right side, and stabilize what was a very weak trio of right-shot defensemen. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out as well as hoped, and after the Senators’ general manager (GM) at the time, Pierre Dorion, paid a hefty amount to get him, they ended up with him playing on the third pair. While the three pairs in Ottawa were played pretty evenly, with Chychrun still earning over 22 minutes per game, it didn’t work well with Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson already playing ahead of him. Not only that but with just one season left under contract at the time, it didn’t make sense to pay a third left-shot defenseman as much as it would have cost.
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Sure, with the Capitals, Chychrun is lights-out, but he probably wouldn’t be playing that well with the Senators, and that is okay.
On paper, the Senators didn’t get very much for Chychrun, especially considering they paid a first-round pick and two second-round picks to acquire him. The return from the Capitals was Jensen and a third-round pick. There aren’t many people who would say that Jensen is a better player than Chychrun, and a third-round pick doesn’t make up the difference between the two, so many people referred to this deal as a major loss by the Senators.
Nick Jensen is Exactly What the Senators Needed
Even going back to before the Senators acquired Chychrun, Jensen is exactly the type of player the Senators needed. Unfortunately, and potentially predictably, Chychrun wasn’t able to do that. When the Senators acquired Jensen, fans were weary, and that is understandable, but the way Jensen came into the lineup and played was a win-win for both teams.
Jensen has been playing with Chabot for the majority of the season, and those two have played together more than any other duo on the Senators. It is no coincidence that Chabot has been having one of his better seasons lately, and Jensen is a huge part of that.
Looking at basic stats, Jensen is doing fairly well for a defense-first player with two goals and 14 points in 39 games. On top of the points, Jensen has 45 blocks and 37 hits, which while they are below his career average, are still fairly strong numbers.
His advanced stats, such as Corsi, Fenwick, and expected goals percentage, don’t paint as pretty of a picture, but regardless, he has been playing very well.
One underrated part of Jensen’s play is his skating. He is great at moving the puck up the ice, whether he carries or passes the puck, he can be a big part of the breakout. Jensen plays with a lot of confidence while defending, and while watching the game, Senators fans can let out a slight sigh of relief when they see his number on the ice.
With struggles on the right side of the defense for a number of years, having Jensen and Artem Zub feels like a luxury to watch. Unfortunately, with the amount of time Zub has missed, he hasn’t been able to get fully up to speed even when he is in the lineup. Jensen, because of his defensive play, has been one of the best defensemen on the Senators, and at certain points of the season, that was very hard to argue against.
Jensen is exactly what the Senators have been needing for a while, and with one season left at $4.05 million after this year, the Senators will likely look to extend the 34-year-old this offseason.
