`Special' Sanderson just getting started for Senators

When you talk to hockey people about Jake Sanderson, they go on and on about his hockey sense, his intuition, his skating skills, his defensive ability.

And his maturity. That's a big deal for a defenceman who already has two NHL seasons under his belt ... and he's still just 21 years old.

His teammates rave about him, his coaches love him and he has set his sights on getting better, on reaching an elite level.

While things didn't go well for the Ottawa Senators this season as they again bowed out of the playoff picture, Sanderson remains a bright spot, a building block and an emerging star ... if he's not already there.

“He's obviously special,” said Senators defenceman Jakob Chychrun. “He's a heckuva player. He has a very bright future, everybody sees that. He's going to be great for this organization for the eight years he signed for.”

Ah yes, the eight years. Last summer, Sanderson, whom the Senators stole with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, signed an eightyear, Us$64.4-million contract extension. It's a huge raise on the $925,000 he got this season. With the big boost in pay go even bigger expectations.

“I'd be lying if I said my life wasn't going to change (with more money),” said Sanderson earlier this week. “But I want to be here. I want to win with this team. I love these guys. That's the main reason why I signed with Ottawa, showing my loyalty to the team and the organization.”

Already with a reputation for his defensive awareness, Sanderson has nice offensive skills. In his rookie season, he had four goals and 28 assists, while improving to 10 goals and 28 assists in the regular season that just completed. His average ice time increased from 21:55 to 23:13 as the team depended on him in the most difficult of situations. He increased his number of shots from 132 to 158. And his plus-minus went from minus-6 to plus-8.

Asked how he thought he played his season, Sanderson said: “Not bad. I wanted to shoot the puck more, I wanted to be more of a threat. But I don't want to go outside my game, I want to be a strong two-way defender. That will always be my goal in the NHL.”

That's the thing with Sanderson; it's defence first.

“One stat I look at is plus-minus, I take great pride in the defensive zone,” he said. “I want to be a plus player. I want to play against the other team's top players.”

He gets input from his father Geoff, a longtime NHL player.

“He watches all the games,” said Sanderson. “He was a forward, so he wants me jumping up on the rush and trying to create offence. That's the player he was.”

Asked to evaluate his teammate, defenceman Thomas Chabot said: “It's just the way he plays the game. He's such an honest player. He's good both ways on the ice. He plays like a veteran, he doesn't cheat.

You see his skating, we could talk about that. But the way he carries himself and the way he plays the game, you have to give him a lot of credit.

“He's a great guy to be around at the rink. his work ethic is awesome. None of us is surprised at what he's able to do, he is just so talented.”

So much has changed since Day 1 when it all seemed so big to a kid fresh out of the University of North Dakota.

“It gets easier. There's more confidence,” said Sanderson. “I know my role. I've gotten used to the speed, strength and size (at the NHL level). That's second nature to me now. The game becomes so mental, you need to have confidence. You're not going to have it every night, but you want to feel good as much as you can.

“You look around the NHL, you see the best players in the world. They're the best players on the ice every night, it doesn't matter who they're playing against. When you look across the ice and see some of the greats and it fires you up. Hopefully, I'll get to that point some day.”