Senators Have Already Used More Defencemen Than Any Other NHL Team This Season

The Senators' 2026-27 NHL season is barely underway, but they've already used more defencemen than any other team in the league.

The Senators have dressed 10 different D-men this season, and as of Oct. 16, that's the highest total in the league. The Philadelphia Flyers, who are 0-6-3 and host the Sens on Saturday, are next with nine.

For the Sens, it's a crazy amount of turnover, especially for a team that's in first place in the tough Atlantic Division with a 6-2 record.

The list of defencemen used by the Senators so far includes Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, Jordan Spence, Tyler Kleven, Carter Yakemchuk, Nikolas Matinpalo, Cameron Crotty, Hoyt Stanley, Jorian Donovan and Artem Zub.

The Senators began the season without Zub, who was still recovering from an injury suffered last season. Then, in the season opener against Toronto on Oct. 3, they lost Sanderson, their best all-around defenceman and probably their most important player. He'd already been dealing with a nagging lower body injury all through camp.

Losing two of their top three defensemen was a major blow, but the injury problems didn't stop there.

Matinpalo was injured on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils after being hit from behind by Anthony Mantha. It appeared to be a concussion, leaving the Senators without three regular defencemen.

For rookies like Yakemchuk, Stanley and Donovan, the situation has created great opportunities. For Yakemchuk, it's been more ice time and responsibility. For Stanley and Donovan, it's a chance to show they can play in the NHL.

The blue line turnstile has also put extra pressure on Chabot, who's had more than his share of injuries in the past. He's not only returned to the heavy time-on-ice totals of the past, his current 26:59 average is higher than any season in his career.

Zub's welcome return on Thursday shaved two and a half minutes off Chabot's workload against the Islanders, and as Zub played well and got through the game without tweaking anything, the Sens hope this marks the beginning of a healthier stretch.

After all, it's only mid-October, and the Sens have already gone through enough defencemen to fill up nearly two NHL blue lines.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News