As the Ottawa Senators push for a playoff spot with nine games left in their season, the health of their top two defencemen has muddied their path.
Jake Sanderson (upper-body injury) has been out for more than three weeks, though he is expected to return soon. He will not play Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.
“A sight for sore eyes,” Senators coach Travis Green told reporters Monday after Sanderson practised for the first time since suffering his injury. “Anytime one of your top guys (is) out of the lineup and you know you miss him, it’s nice to have him back in practice. He looks sharp. That’s a good sign that he’s back out there.”
Thomas Chabot’s outlook, however, is much bleaker. His broken arm will keep him out of the Senators’ lineup for the rest of the regular season (and potentially the first month of the playoffs if Ottawa qualifies). The Senators are also missing Nick Jensen, who underwent knee surgery earlier this month.
The Senators, to their credit, have made up ground in the Eastern Conference wild-card race without Sanderson, going 7-3-1 in his absence thanks to solid team defence (sixth in expected goals against per 60 minutes since March 9) and improved goaltending (14th in total goals saved above expected).
A potential silver lining of Sanderson’s and Chabot’s injuries is that it has given the Senators’ other defencemen an opportunity to play bigger roles in a pressure-packed environment. (Of course, the sooner Sanderson, one of the NHL’s most impactful defenders, is back in the lineup, the better for the Senators.)
Take Jordan Spence, for example. The 25-year-old defenceman, a healthy scratch early in the season, was averaging 17:13 of ice time through 53 games before Sanderson’s injury. But in the 11 games since Sanderson landed on the injured list, Spence’s ice time has ballooned to 22:25 per game (and 25:38 per game since Chabot joined Sanderson on the shelf).
Spence leads all defencemen (minimum 500 minutes played at five-on-five) this season with an expected-goal rate (XGF%) of 60.8 per cent. That number has improved in Sanderson’s absence; Spence has helped Ottawa generate 65.8 per cent of the expected goals at five-on-five over the past 11 games. (Actual goals are 7-7 during Spence’s minutes.)
Spence’s ability to break pucks out of the defensive zone has helped tilt the ice in Ottawa’s favour. He ranks 12th out of 202 qualified defencemen this season in successful pass-outs per 20 minutes at five-on-five.
In response to Chabot’s injury, Green separated Spence from partner Tyler Kleven, who joined Artem Zub on the top pair. Kleven and Spence have not been tasked with the toughest minutes this season, but they have done their jobs. Their 61.3 XGF% at five-on-five is 16th out of nearly 300 pairs that have played at least 100 minutes. The Senators have outscored opponents 32-18 with Kleven and Spence on the ice.
Kleven’s step up in competition alongside Zub has not gone seamlessly. They have been outscored 3-1 and outchanced 16-9 at five-on-five over the past three games. But Kleven, 24, has demonstrated that he is a capable penalty killer with increased usage, leading the Senators in short-handed ice time since March 9 (32:19). Ottawa has killed 87.5 per cent of opposing power plays over that span, which ranks second in the league. Kleven’s 24 short-handed loose-puck recoveries in the defensive zone are tied for the third most in the league over the past three weeks.
The Senators have also gotten a look at top prospect Carter Yakemchuk, who was the No. 7 overall pick in 2024. He has shown some flashes, leading Senators defencemen with 11 offence-generating plays over the past three games. Those include passes and carries to the slot, as well as slot shots on net and other plays that often translate into goals.
When Sanderson returns from his injury, he will go back to anchoring the Senators’ defence. He will rejoin a group that gained valuable experience without him.
“Just watching the guys the past few weeks, we’re playing some of our best hockey we’ve played all year,” Sanderson told reporters Monday. “I’m itching to get back with them when the time comes.”
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