Thomas Chabot vs Jake Sanderson: Who must carry Senators during Sanderson’s absence

With thomas chabot stepping back into a No. 1 role and Jake Sanderson sidelined week-to-week, Ottawa faces a clear question: can Chabot absorb Sanderson’s minutes, defensive responsibilities and scoring punch? This comparison examines what each player has contributed and what the Senators must count on as they chase the second wild card.

Thomas Chabot: reclaimed No. 1 role, added defensive focus and variable minutes

Thomas Chabot has moved from a reduced second-pair role back toward the workload of his earlier career. He has spent recent seasons at lower average ice time than his 2019–2022 stretch when he averaged over 26 minutes a night for three straight years, and this season he is logging his lowest ice time per game since his rookie campaign. Still, Chabot has produced at the second-highest point-per-game rate of his career while playing fewer minutes, and his defensive metrics have dramatically improved under coach Travis Green.

Chabot has repeatedly said he welcomes more minutes and a bigger role. He has described how playing 21–23 minutes a night allowed him to jump in the rush and defend hard, and he now faces a larger, more consistent workload in Sanderson’s absence. In his first outing in the reclaimed role against Vancouver on Monday he skated with Artem Zub, an experienced defensive partner who helped cover his previous shortcomings.

Jake Sanderson: leading scorer, top time-on-ice and now week-to-week with injury

Jake Sanderson has been Ottawa’s statistical leader among defensemen this season, with 11 goals, 37 assists and 48 points while averaging 24: 49 of ice time per game in 62 contests. He left a game against the Seattle Kraken in the second period after a hit into the boards from Brandon Montour, and he was replaced by Nikolas Matinpalo in the lineup the following Monday. Coach Travis Green described Sanderson as a big piece and labeled the situation week-to-week because of an upper-body injury.

Outside the injury, Sanderson’s presence altered Chabot’s role since the 2022–23 season. Sanderson’s combination of defensive strength and offensive production allowed Chabot to operate in a reduced-minute, second-pair capacity where he could manage matchups and still generate offense. That dynamic is now interrupted by Sanderson’s absence and a reported separated shoulder noted by Jimmy Murphy of The Sick Podcast.

Travis Green and the Senators: where the players align and where they diverge in impact

Applied to the same criteria—minutes, defensive stability and scoring—the two players present complementary but unequal profiles. Sanderson leads the blue line in raw scoring and time on ice: 24: 49 per game and 48 points in 62 games. Chabot brings higher historical minutes in earlier years and a recent trend of improved defensive play, but he has done much of his best work this season with reduced time and easier defensive matchups that masked the demand of a true No. 1 workload.

Both players influence matchups and power-play opportunities, yet they diverge on how the team must replace them. Sanderson’s absence removes a leading source of goals and the defensive anchor who consistently logged heavy minutes. Chabot’s elevation restores minutes and veteran playmaking; however, he will have to sustain his recent defensive gains while expanding ice time against tougher competition. Coach Green’s message—next man up—frames the expectation evenly for each defender but does not erase the statistical gap Sanderson leaves.

On the macro level, the Senators sit at 32-22-9 and trail the Boston Bruins by three points for the second wild card. That standing makes this comparison urgent: the club must compensate on the ice now, not later.

Finding: This comparison establishes that Thomas Chabot must increase his minutes and preserve the defensive improvement he has shown, but he cannot fully replicate Jake Sanderson’s combined scoring and time-on-ice production alone. The next confirmed test of this finding will be the Senators’ upcoming stretch of games that will shift the standings and the team’s wild-card gap to Boston; if Chabot maintains an elevated defensive level and heavier minutes, the Senators can remain competitive, but Sanderson’s return timeline and any further status updates will ultimately determine whether that parity holds.