Many Ottawa Senators players are on the verge of experiencing their first Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Jake Sanderson hasn`t waited as long as Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, and other key Senators. In his third NHL season, the 22-year-old defenseman has become a true star. The playoff Battle of Ontario is the ultimate test for his abilities.
When asked if the playoffs would be Sanderson`s “coming-out party,” Senators coach Travis Green disagreed.
“Jake is a great player,” Green told reporters. “He doesn’t need a coming-out party. The NHL knows how good he is.”
Sanderson quietly achieved a career-high of 57 points this season, with 32 in his last 33 games. He also led the Senators in total ice time (1,955:22), significantly more than the next player, Chabot, by over 100 minutes.
Few players had a greater all-around impact in the regular season than Sanderson. He averaged over 18 minutes of even-strength time, three minutes on the power play, and two minutes on the penalty kill per game. Only Cale Makar of Colorado and Mikhail Sergachev of Utah can claim the same.
Green will heavily depend on Sanderson and his partner Artem Zub to neutralize the Toronto Maple Leafs` primary offensive threats in their first-round series, starting Sunday at Scotiabank Arena.
Despite frequently starting shifts in the defensive zone, Sanderson and Zub helped the Senators achieve 56 percent of expected goals at five-on-five this season, ranking fifth among 59 defense pairings playing at least 500 minutes.
Toronto only scored three goals against Ottawa in three regular-season games, with Sanderson playing a key role. At five-on-five, the Senators outscored the Maple Leafs 3-0, out-chanced them 16-6, and out-attempted them 53-29 during Sanderson’s ice time. The Maple Leafs` “Core Four” forwards—Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares—only managed one scoring chance at five-on-five when facing Sanderson in the season series.
Under coach Craig Berube, the Maple Leafs have intensified their forecheck, emphasizing the Senators` need to effectively break out of their zone. Sanderson is unlikely to be intimidated by this. He finished the regular season tied for eighth among defensemen in successful defensive dump-in recoveries under pressure, defined as when an opposing forechecker is within a stick length upon recovery. A successful recovery leads to exiting the defensive zone.
Sanderson’s 11.3 percent true turnover rate was the 10th best among 164 defensemen who played at least 1,000 minutes in the regular season. This is particularly impressive considering he possessed the puck for nearly 191 minutes—sixth most in that group.
“I think there are certain players you just observe and avoid over-coaching,” Green told reporters recently. “You simply watch them develop. His game is steadily evolving. It’s wonderful to witness his progress. We are fortunate to have him.”
Ottawa’s roster has a combined 361 games of playoff experience—the least among the 16 playoff teams. Three players—David Perron, Claude Giroux, and Nick Cousins—account for over 70 percent of this experience (262 total games).
Sanderson experienced a taste of playoff intensity when he replaced Quinn Hughes at the 4 Nations Face-Off, playing two games and scoring a crucial goal for the United States in the championship round. The Senators’ chances of causing a major upset depend significantly on Sanderson’s performance against the Maple Leafs.
“We’re excited to be in the playoffs, and we believe we can make an impact,” Sanderson told reporters. “As a young team, we’re fortunate to have veterans like Giroux and Perron to guide us. We’re excited.”
