Senators' Best Defenseman is Clear

The first data point to look at is scoring. Last year, Sanderson reached a career high across the offensive board with 11 goals and 46 assists for 57 points. Chabot recorded nine goals and 36 assists for 45 points. But where did the scoring come from?

One clue is the difference between 5-on-5 scoring and points on the power play. While Sanderson reached new offensive heights, Chabot was the more productive defender at even strength. Seven goals and 33 of his 45 points came at even strength compared to just five goals and 17 points from Sanderson.

At even strength, the two are very comparable. During the 2024-2025 campaign, Sanderson just barely edged Chabot in both goals and points generated per 60 minutes of ice time. According to MoneyPuck data, Sanderson posted 0.34 goals per 60 minutes and 1.75 points per 60. Chabot averaged 0.29 goals per 60 minutes and 1.36 points. Sanderson is clearly more productive, but Chabot isn’t far behind.

Where these two were like night and day was their usage and effectiveness on the power play. Simply put, Sanderson is the superior power play quarterback. Last season, he put together five goals and added 27 assists for 32 total power play points. He also averaged 3:24 minutes of power play ice time last year, including the postseason. He finished tied for 13th in the league for the highest average of power play ice time.

Conversely, Chabot averaged less than two minutes of power play ice time per game as the second unit defender. He still managed to post nine points with the man advantage, but the drop in ice time has been a consistent occurrence since Sanderson arrived in the NHL. During the 2022-2023 campaign, for example, Chabot reached career highs in power play scoring with five goals and 20 points while averaging 3:47 minutes of power play ice time. That number has been reduced by nearly half over the last two seasons.

The good news for Ottawa is both defensemen are premier players at their position. Sanderson has certainly eaten up some of the offensive opportunities for the Senators’ blue line, but the success is big enough to share. As the Sens try to take another step forward, they will continue relying on both of their top defensemen to lead them there.