Whitefish native and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson will play with Team USA in the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off.
Sanderson was announced as a late addition to the team on Sunday after Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes pulled out due to injury. Team USA plays its first game of the best-on-best international tournament on Thursday at 6 p.m. Mountain time against Finland. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
A University of North Dakota product, Sanderson, 22, is in his third season with the Senators after being drafted in the first round (fifth overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He has 19 goals and 105 points in 211 career games.
This season, Sanderson has five goals and 35 points through 55 games with a minus-15 plus/minus rating and an average of 24:25 of ice time per game.
Watch related coverage Whitefish native Jake Sanderson living NHL dream at 21:
The NHL's 4 Nations Face-off is a midseason tournament between Team USA, Canada, Sweden and Finland. Canada defeated Sweden 4-3 in overtime in the first round-robin game Wednesday night in Montreal. The tournament is a replacement this year for the NHL All-Star Game.
Team USA and Canada are scheduled to play in a round-robin game Saturday at 6 p.m. The top-two teams emerging from round-robin play will square off in the championship game on Feb. 20.
Sanderson has previously played internationally for Team USA at the 2021 World Juniors, the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
Sanderson was born in Whitefish in 1993 and grew up playing in the Glacier Hockey Association. His family moved to Calgary, Alberta, when he was 12. Sanderson's father Geoff scored 355 goals in 17 NHL seasons.
