Jake Sanderson Update Is Huge Blow To Senators
The Ottawa Senators were hoping for the best when top defenseman Jake Sanderson went down in their 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Now comes word, however, that the team will be without him "indefinitely," per Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen.
Jake Sanderson left the game after just 4:29 TOI. Was seen showing frustration on the bench after his nagging injury flared up. #GoSensGo Not good. Ottawa dealt with so many key injuries last season, and are right back to it in game one. https://t.co/jq2EcgaVEn
— Everyday Sens (@EverydaySens) October 4, 2026
During a play along the boards in the first period, Sanderson apparently aggravated a lower-body injury that he had initially suffered in Ottawa's last exhibition game a week ago against the Montreal Canadiens.
Senators to be without Sanderson for 'foreseeable future'
"The Ottawa Senators will have to soldier on without Jake Sanderson for the foreseeable future," wrote Garrioch. "Losing Sanderson is a big hit to this blue line, but you can be certain he won’t be back until whatever is nagging him is 100% healthy."
Despite the uncertainty of a timeline, that's at least a bit clearer than what head coach Travis Green had to offer earlier:
“He got some testing done. I would call it not as serious as we had hoped it wouldn’t be, and I don’t think it’s going to be, but he definitely won’t play the rest of this trip,” Green said. Um, okay.
As Garrioch notes, two defensemen were placed on waivers on Monday around the league, which the Sens could perhaps take a look at. Matthew Robertson of the NY Rangers and Brayden Pachal of the Calgary Flames hit the waiver wire.
Obviously, neither of them will be able to replace what Sanderson brings to the Senators' blueline. The elite two-way defender regularly logs close to 25 minutes of ice time per night. Last season, he recorded 54 points in 67 games while nothcing a plus/minus rating of +16 and blocking 128 shots. He was top 10 in balloting for the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman for the second straight year.