Chabot Out. The List Just Got Longer.

Thomas Chabot exited Saturday against Philadelphia with an upper-body injury, and the timing is about as bad as it gets. Sanderson was just cleared to return Wednesday against the Panthers — the blue line finally getting its anchor back — and now the defenseman who logged the most games on that same blue line this season is the one heading to the sideline.

The depth chart behind Chabot is thin in a way that has been documented here for weeks. Jordan Spence is next in line, and the drop-off is significant. Tomas Hamara is the option after that. Artem Zub made his season debut recently and offers something, but he's coming off an extended absence and is not a plug-and-play solution for Chabot's role. Ottawa recalled Jorian Donovan earlier this month, which tells you something about where the organization is operating right now.

No timeline on Chabot yet. That matters a great deal. If this is a short absence, the Senators can manage — Sanderson's return changes the calculus, and the team has shown it can execute with its depth available. If it stretches into the first round, Ottawa is asking a patchwork group to hold things together against a better-seeded opponent, with Sanderson carrying minutes he cannot sustain alone at 24.5 per game.

The Senators have been adding names to this list since September. Chabot is just the newest one.