The Ottawa Senators entered this season hoping to start faster than last year.
Jake Sanderson’s status isn’t helping matters, though.
Sanderson likely got off to one of the worst starts for any player this season — it was less than five minutes until he was injured.
Given that Sanderson is one of the league’s top defenseman, and coming off a 2026 Winter Olympics gold medal with Team USA, it’s the kind of immediate absence that could really shake up a team.
It’s also one of those injuries that hasn’t been totally cleared up, which makes understanding Sanderson’s status a bit trickier.
Jake Sanderson Injury Update
All that’s really know about Sanderson is that he sustained a lower-body injury and that he hasn’t played since.
This is what Sportsnet’s Michael Amato wrote on Friday:
“Sanderson’s season lasted all of 4:29 before he was forced to exit against the Toronto Maple Leafs with a lower-body injury. He hasn’t played since. It’s obviously less than ideal for the Senators, who moved on from Brady Tkachuk this summer and were hoping to get off to a better start than they did a year ago. The Senators lost five of their first seven games last season and are trying to avoid putting themselves in a tough spot in a difficult division.”
The Senators are also without Artem Zub presently, so a lot of defensemen are having to step into bigger roles in a hurry.
“There’s a ripple effect throughout the Senators’ blue line due to Sanderson’s loss, as it puts more pressure and weight on everyone’s shoulders with Artem Zub also out right now,” Amato writes. “For instance, Cameron Crotty, who only has 10 career games under his belt, was pressed into action without Sanderson and played less than 11 minutes in both of his outings. Hoyt Stanley got a turn Thursday and played just 10:21. That’s forced Thomas Chabot to average over 26 minutes a night so far, more than three minutes per game than he was averaging last year. On Thursday night specifically, Chabot played 29:19. Ideally, you don’t want to be overtaxing key players so early in what is now an 84-game season.”
Sanderson is a pivotal piece to the Senators’ long-term hopes.
Somehow, though, it still seems quite uncertain when they might get him back on the ice.
Better Injury News
The Senators could’ve lost Linus Ullmark to injury, too, as the goalie left a game earlier this week.
He seems to be OK, though, which is good news for Ottawa.
“The Sens did catch a break when it comes to Linus Ullmark, as he was back between the pipes Thursday night after going down with an injury earlier in the week,” Amato writes. “If Ottawa was down both its No. 1 goalie and top defenseman, it would’ve been a much bigger challenge for the team to overcome.”
In the meantime, Senators fans will wait to see if anything substantial emerges about Sanderson at some point. His present absence is pretty frustrating for Ottawa.
Senators’ Jake Sanderson Injury Update Leaves Uncertainty