Nick Jensen took a seat in the press box for the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.
The veteran defenseman was a healthy scratch against the Columbus Blue Jackets after a tough stretch of games in his second season with the Senators.
The 35-year-old blueliner landed in Ottawa on July 1, 2024, when the Washington Capitals dealt him and a 2026 third-round pick to the Senators for defenseman Jakob Chychrun. Jensen has been a lineup regular for the Senators since the trade until head coach Travis Green’s move on Monday.
“Not an easy decision. Could’ve been a few guys. Tonight it’s Jens,” Green said pregame. “For different reasons that stay within our room, maybe it’s a matchup we like, it can change from night to night, too. Could be Jens tonight, could be someone else tomorrow.”
Jensen has seen his ice time sliced this season under Green, playing 16:42 per game, just a year after he averaged over 20 minutes per game (20:13) for the third time in his career. His struggles, which included a minus-2 performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs in just 14:30 of ice time on Saturday, led to his scratch.
The 16:42 of average ice time is the lowest mark of his career since his second year in the league in 2017-18 with the Detroit Red Wings. Through 37 games this season, Jensen has only recorded one goal and seven assists.
“This is one of those decisions that we put a lot of thought into, and it’s not easy,” Green said. “It’s not an easy day for Jens either. I feel for him.”
Meanwhile, Chychrun is one of the top defensemen in the entire NHL for the Capitals this season. He leads all defenders in goals with 15 and had 29 points in 38 games coming into Monday night’s games.
Chychrun struggled in his 94-game stint with the Senators, tasked with playing on his off-hand side for the majority of his time with the club. The fit in Ottawa never came to be, necessitating the eventual trade.
“I didn’t trade myself, so I don’t know – I think a lot of people were talking about the fit,” Chychrun said last year. “Obviously, they got the two, [Jake Sanderson] and [Thomas Chabot], on the left side, and I just think maybe the fit wasn’t as good as it is [in Washington].”
Jensen is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent next summer. He holds a $4.05 million cap hit for the 2025-26 campaign.
