It’s official- Jake Sanderson will represent the USA hockey team at the Olympics. Sanderson was one of the eight defensemen selected by USA general manager Bill Guerin. This will be his fifth time playing for the United States, including at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off. He was also on the United States 2022 Olympic team, when the NHL did not send its players. He played only one game before an injury cost him the rest of that tournament. Sanderson will join Senators captain Brady Tkachuk on the United States team that is looking to win gold for the first time since 1980. Let’s dive into the details.
Jake Sanderson by the Numbers
Here are Sanderson’s stats so far this season:
- 39 games, 8 goals, 28 points, 25:09 time on ice/game
That puts Sanderson on pace for a career high in both goals and points, which he set last season when he scored 11 goals and 57 points. Among American defensemen, he ranks tied for third in goals, tied for fifth in points, and third in time on ice/game. What’s so remarkable about his offensive numbers is that Sanderson is asked to carry a heavy load defensively as well. He leads Sens d-men with just under three minutes on the penalty kill per game. At 5 on 5, he starts in the defensive zone 34% of the time, which is around the same percent as his offensive zone starts.
USA’s Defensive Group
Here’s who will be joining Sanderson on the backend for the Americans:
- Brock Faber, Charlie McAvoy, Noah Hanifin, Quinn Hughes, Seth Jones, Jaccob Slavin, Zach Werenski
The biggest surprise here is that Adam Fox was left off. He’s finished in the top five in Norris Trophy voting in four of the last five years, including winning the award in 2020-21. He’s scored 28 points in 28 games this season. Lane Hutson, who has scored 40 points in 40 games, was also left off the team. Looking at the group above, it’s clear that Bill Guerin and company valued size and defensive play, leaving off two of the most gifted offensive defensemen in the league. Of course, it helps when you still have a player like Quinn Hughes for offensive purposes.
Additional Notes
At the start of December, I wrote about Shane Pinto’s case to make this team. A couple days later, Pinto was hurt and missed the next 10 Senators games, all but killing his chances of consideration. The last few forward spots ended up going to Tage Thompson, Brock Nelson, and Vincent Trocheck. That means Jason Robertson, the leading scorer amongst Americans this season, was left off the team. Regardless of who was left off, the expectation is pretty simple for the Americans. They’ve won the last two World Junior Tournaments, as well as last year’s World Championship. This is the golden age for USA Hockey. They expect to win gold. Their biggest competition? Canada, of course.
