Sanderson Is Still Out, and Ottawa's Blue Line Math Doesn't Work Without Him

The Senators built their defensive reset around a simple premise: pair Jake Sanderson with the newly signed Jordan Spence and let two young, mobile defensemen anchor a blue line that badly needed stabilizing. It was a reasonable plan. Sanderson logged 24.5 minutes a night last season, posted 37 points, and finished at +7 on a team that spent most of the year treading water in close games. He was the load-bearing wall. He's still out.

I've noted this twice now, and it keeps getting more relevant rather than less. Artem Zub is also unavailable, which means Ottawa is heading into the preseason stretch with two of its more reliable defensive bodies on the shelf. Spence was signed to complement Sanderson, not to carry the pairing alone. That's a different job, and it's an open question whether the blue line depth behind those two can absorb the minutes if Sanderson's timeline slips into October.

The broader problem is that this roster has no slack. Stutzle is the offense. Giroux, at 39, is the veteran glue. The forward group is thin enough that Ridly Greig's suspension actually matters. A blue line missing Sanderson for any significant stretch of the season opener isn't a bump — it's the kind of start that can define a year before November arrives.