OTTAWA — Teammates call him the Hulk.
On Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson showed why he’s earned that nickname. He was everywhere, all the time, all at once, playing a leading role in his team’s 2-1 victory, including sniping the Senators’ first goal.
“He does everything well,” Senators coach Travis Green said post-game.
Not that a pre-season game is the be all and end all, but Sanderson’s skill, brute strength and skating ability were on full display. He broke up multiple odd-man rushes in the first period and was a one-man breakout the other way.
“I definitely got stronger [in the off-season]”, said Sanderson. “Part of the maturity level, I’m getting older, getting strong and heavier.”
Josh Norris agrees. The centre noted, while referring to Sanderson by his bulky nickname, that the 22-year-old defenceman got “shredded” over the summer as the two trained together in Michigan.
“I don’t really think I can push him in the gym. He’s a freak,” said Norris.
In Tuesday’s first period that extra strength came in handy for Sanderson. Trailing Toronto 1-0 late in the first period, Sanderson received a pass from Claude Giroux in the slot and rocketed a shot past Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz’s glove hand to score a beautiful tying goal. The juice on Sanderson’s shot was heard loud and clear when it rang off the post and in.
Shooting more, and having a more dangerous shot, is important for Sanderson, who said it was another area of his game he was working on and thinking about over the summer. He says he’s gaining confidence in his ability to score and wants to bring that element to the forefront this season.
“If you look at defencemen around the league and their goal totals, the higher guys have the most shot attempts, like Roman Josi and Rasmus Dahlin,” said the fifth-overall pick from the 2020 draft.
“I think for me, my focus is my confidence. I feel I have a lot of pieces to my game that I really like, but I obviously want to keep working on my game. Even though this is just my third season, I feel confident, confident in myself, confident in my ability and my importance to the team.”
Sanderson had four shots in the first period Tuesday and finished with a team high of six. If Sanderson is to take that next step from an elite defensive defenceman to a potential top 10 defenceman in the league, it will be from his ability to consistently generate offensive opportunities.
He recorded 158 shots on net last season, 29th-most among all NHL defencemen, after finishing 50th at the position with 132 shots as a rookie. Sanderson also jumped from four goals to 10 in his first two seasons and is looking to further climb both lists in 2024-25.
Sanderson’s new fearlessness was on display in the second period, when he jumped into an odd-man rush and found himself down low close to the goal line, where he launched a quick, sharp angle shot on Stolarz. It’s a small, pre-season indication that the defenceman is becoming more self-assured to try and create something out of nothing.
“[Tonight] was the first time I was behind the bench with him in a game: he was impressive,” said Green, who added that he admires the way Sanderson practises.
Ottawa’s blue line leader in average power play and penalty kill ice time per game last season, Sanderson was again leaned on for both special-teams units in his first game under Green.
As important as Sanderson’s offensive game is for this Senators team looking to make the jump, his role as a shutdown defender cannot be overlooked.
In the third period when the Leafs were trying to mount a comeback, Sanderson repeatedly thwarted them as they tried to enter the Senators’ zone. Late in the third period, Matthews Knies attempted to manoeuvre past Sanderson, but was shoved to the ice by the defenceman, who started the play back the other way.
Senators prospect Stephen Halliday says getting your pocket picked by Sanderson is a regular thing in training camp.
“I went in the corner with Sanderson one time, and he gave me a cross check and I was like, holy, that’s not like an NCAA guy,” the 22-year-old forward out of Ohio State said.
So, are there any problems with Sanderson?
Well, ask his teammates and they might tell you it’s his texting. Sens forward Shane Pinto calls Sanderson the “worst texter” on the team because he takes so long to respond, an accusation the defenceman disputes.
“No, that’s literally him,” Sanderson said. “He’s the worst texter. He won’t get back. If you look at his phone, he has 900 text messages unread. I can’t believe he said that about me” Sanderson said with a laugh.
INJURY UPDATES
Linus Ullmark: Senators fans shudder at talk that Ullmark, the team’s prized off-season acquisition, has tweaked something. Ullmark, the 2023 Vezina winner, was brought in to solve the team’s longstanding woes in net. He watched Tuesday’s game from the stands.
But the team is playing down any worries.
“He’s fine,” Green said. “He’s going to be fine; we’re just being cautious. He skated on his own.”
Ullmark rejoined the team on the ice Wednesday, taking part in practice as a full participant.
In the meantime, Senators backup goaltender Anton Forsberg was solid on Tuesday night, stopping 19 of 20 shots.
Josh Norris: For the second straight season Norris has shown up for camp coming off left-shoulder surgery. The good news is, unlike last year, Norris began this training camp practising with full contact. The rub is that he has yet to take part in any scrimmage or pre-season game.
“We have a plan in place and we’re going to err on the side of caution,” Green said. “But he’s feeling good about himself… You’re going to see him in a game sooner or later here.”
Last year, Norris only started practising with contact right before the season began and then missed the first three regular-season games.
Ridly Greig: Greig was having an outstanding start to his pre-season before he was taken down by Maple Leafs forward Pontus Holmberg with a slew foot that forced Greig to leave the game and not return.
Green said Greig had a “headache” and that the team kept him out for “precautionary reasons.”
The last time Greig played the Leafs, he unloaded an empty net slapshot that led to a Morgan Rielly crosscheck which earned the Toronto defenceman a five-game suspension.
Greig said that his focus this summer was to “get stronger.”
“I’m always a little bit lighter compared to other guys,” said Greig who was seen around the rink post-game.
In Tuesday’s game Greig played with veteran David Perron and Nick Cousins, the free-agent signing from the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers who has taken Greig under his wing at camp.
Greig said he is “learning certain tricks” from Cousins.