This evening, the Ottawa Senators announced the signing of Jake Sanderson to a massive contract extension.
Sanderson's new contract extension is for 8-years at $8.05M AAV, paying the defenseman a total of $64,400,000 over the term. This locks him down with Ottawa until he is 30-years-old.
The Senators look stacked on defense heading into the 2023-24 season. With Chychrun, Chabot and now Sanderson locked up on the back-end.
Sanderson has blossomed into the number one defenseman for the Ottawa Senators. And at 21 years of age, he will only improve.
In his first season in the NHL, Sanderson put up an impressive 32 points in 77 games. However, for Sanderson, most of his praise comes from his defensive ability. He already takes on major Powerplay and important Penalty kill minutes, as well as impressive ice-time every night (See Below).
Bruce Garrioch of TSN has some positive words to say about the massive contract that was signed by Sanderson earlier this evening (Listen Below).
Signing young players to large contracts can be a gamble, especially after just one season. However, the Senators are willing to take the risk on Sanderson. Also, with the Salary cap set to increase over the next couple of years, signings like this will become more common.
Once his contract kicks in, he will become the 21st highest paid defenseman in the league.
Is the Sanderson contract an Overpay or an Underpay?
Overpay
Underpay
Only time will tell
