Senators sign Jake Sanderson to a $64.4 million, eight-year contract.
The Ottawa Senators signed defenseman Jake Sanderson to an eight-year contract worth $8.05 million annually on Wednesday, adding him to their roster of young cornerstones on long-term deals.
Entering his final year of an entry-level contract, Sanderson was named to the June NHL All-Rookie team. After leaving the University of North Dakota after his sophomore year, the 21-year-old—who was selected fifth in the 2020 NHL draft—became one of the Senators’ more reliable players during his rookie campaign this past season.
Sanderson finished with four goals and 32 points in 77 games and parlayed his two-way potential into showing he could be trusted in multiple situations. He was second on the team in average ice time at 21:55 per contest behind alternate captain and defenseman Thomas Chabot.
His impact was felt throughout the lineup, as he led the team in short-handed ice time at 252:36, according to Natural Stat Trick. He also was second on the team in 5-on-5 minutes and was second among defensemen in power-play ice time, with Chabot being first.
Signing Sanderson to an eight-year deal makes the Senators the latest franchise to sign a young defenseman to a long-term contract at a time when such players are changing the NHL landscape.
The fact that the agreement represents a further step toward securing the Senators’ vision of a bright future is more important, though. More teams are attempting to replicate the success of the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning, two teams that won Stanley Cups through draft selections.
By selecting and then developing players like Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Shane Pinto, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Chabot, and Sanderson, the Senators have attempted to accumulate talent through the draft.
They have also added to their youthful core by acquiring Josh Norris, Erik Brannstrom, and Jakob Chychrun through trades.
Batherson, Chabot, Norris, Tkachuk and now Sanderson are signed to long-term contracts ahead of what has a chance to be an important season for the Senators. They had used the 2022 offseason to sign Claude Giroux and create belief that they could snap their playoff drought and reach the postseason for the first time in five seasons.
However, injuries and inconsistencies ultimately saw them miss the playoffs again, as they finished six points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. Since then, they have signed Joonas Korpisalo and Vladimir Tarasenko in free agency and added Dominik Kubalik in the Alex DeBrincat trade to further heighten the expectations that they could challenge for a playoff spot in what’s expected to be a demanding Eastern Conference.
