Ottawa Senators Sign Top Prospect

The Ottawa Senators announced they have signed Jake Sanderson to a three-year entry-level contract. As the top defensive prospect in the organization, there's been a ton of buzz about Sanderson joining the team, great to a deal completed as it's expected we'll see him jump immediately into the lineup.

The Montana native is 19 years old and recently completed his second season with the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks (NCAA) and was an absolute beast. Sanderson finished with 26 points in 23 games from the blue line and ranked third on his team in overall points. He also represented Team USA at the Olympic games in Beijing last month.

The Senators are thrilled with the young blueliner's development to this point and are anxious to get everything moving along further. Senators general manager Pierre Dorion had this to say about getting the contract finalized:

We're very pleased to get Jake under contract. An important cog to our future on defence, Jake is an effortless skater who possesses all the tools to be a complete NHL defenceman. A mature leader despite his young age, he played big minutes in college with a blend of poise and confidence. While he still has progress to make in overcoming a current injury, we are hopeful of seeing him in our lineup before the end of the season

ANOTHER W pic.twitter.com/7ZC3fZMFZI
— Petrov McGuire (@McguirePetrov) March 27, 2022

While the Senators fans want Sanderson into the lineup next week that's likely not going to be the case. However, it is expected he'll join the lineup sometime over the next three weeks as he's recovering from a hand injury. Ottawa drafted the defenseman in the first round of the 2020 draft, fifth overall.