Jake Sanderson answered the call to suit up for his country at the last minute in February at the 4 Nations Face-Off.<\/p>\n
On Friday, that decision paid dividends.<\/p>\n
The Ottawa Senators top defenceman was among 23 players named to the United States roster for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, which will be held in Milano-Cortina, Italy, next month.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old Sanderson will join Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk and his brother, Matthew, of the Florida Panthers, on the roster.<\/p>\n
Sanderson was sitting in a hotel in Miami last February, getting ready to head further south for the break during the 4 Nations Face-Off, when he got the call from American general manager Bill Guerin to suit up at the tourney.<\/p>\n
That decision and Sanderson\u2019s continued elevation to becoming one of the National Hockey League\u2019s elite defencemen paved the way for Team USA staff to bring him to Italy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such an honour,\u201d Sanderson said at the Canadian Tire Centre. \u201cYou look at the list, for all the countries, it\u2019s pretty impressive. To have the opportunity to go a second time, I\u2019m just forever grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanderson has eight goals and 28 points in 39 games this season. He has put himself in the discussion to get votes for the Norris Trophy as the NHL\u2019s top defenceman this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat he showed is that he belongs and he\u2019s an emerging elite defenceman in the league,\u201d Team USA coach Mike Sullivan said on a conference call with reporters on Friday. \u201cWe had extensive conversations in putting together the 4 Nations roster and Jake was at the forefront of those with respect to the defence core.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we added him to the 4 Nations team, I thought his performance just provided evidence that the conversations we had about him were correct.\u201d<\/p>\n
No, he\u2019s not going to beat out the likes of Colorado\u2019s Cale Makar and Minnesota\u2019s Quinn Hughes when the final votes are tallied, but Sanderson is averaging more than 25 minutes a night with the Senators.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you watch his overall game, he\u2019s an elite defenseman,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cHe\u2019s mobile, good size, can play on a power play, a good defender, can kill penalties, drives offence with his ability to make outlet passes and join the rush. He defends very well with his mobility and his stick.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so I thought his performance in the 4 Nations was exceptional, but his body of work in the NHL and the way he continues to progress, and the impact that he has with his team in Ottawa, speaks for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sanderson was one of eight defencemen selected along with Brock Faber, Noah Hanifin, Seth Jones, Charlie McAvoy, Jaccob Slavin, Zach Werenski, and Hughes. This will be Sanderson\u2019s second Olympics.<\/p>\n
He played in Beijing in 2022 when the Americans took younger players due to the impact of COVID-19.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came in and performed extremely well,\u201d Guerin said. \u201cHe was in all the conversations leading up to the tournament and, then when he got there, he really impressed everybody.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis play just speaks for itself. He is emerging each and every day as one of the top defencemen in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finnish defenceman Nikolas Matinpalo, who was also an injury replacement at the 4 Nations, was named to his county\u2019s roster on Friday morning as well. He has established himself as a regular NHL player in the past year and was informed by Finnish coach Antti Pennanen on Boxing Day.<\/p>\n
Though Matinpalo has been scratched from time to time, that\u2019s mostly because the Senators have seven defencemen. He is reliable and did the difficult job of playing on his off side when the Senators ran into injury issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely, it\u2019s a dream of mine to get home and put that national team jersey on,\u201d Matinpalo said. \u201cFour years ago, I was playing Finnish League, so I don\u2019t, I wasn\u2019t really thinking about the Olympics.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis summer, one of my goals was to make this team, and I\u2019m happy that I made the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Centre Tim Stutzle already has been named to Team Germany and centre Lars Eller is on Denmark\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n
Not everyone in the Ottawa room would have been pleased with the roster announcements that were made on Friday.<\/p>\n
Centre Shane Pinto, invited to the orientation camp by Team USA in the summer, was passed over. He was in a battle for a spot with Vincent Trochek of the New York Rangers, who was selected instead.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
Pinto missed nearly a month with a lower-body ailment he suffered on Dec. 4 against the Rangers. He will remain on the radar screen because there is a risk of injury with the NHL\u2019s compressed schedule.<\/p>\n
Goaltender Linus Ullmark, who has been granted a leave of absence for personal reasons by the Senators, wasn\u2019t one of the three goalies selected by Team Sweden. He has struggled this season.<\/p>\n
Swedish coach Sam Hallam told Aftonbladet that Ullmark\u2019s leave of absence had no bearing on the decision to leave him off the Olympic team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very sad to hear that Linus needed to take a break from hockey. I hope he comes back and feels well as soon as possible. But we had made our decision about the goalies before that news came,\u201d Hallam told the newspaper.<\/p>\n