Born in
Trenton, New Jersey, Sanguinetti grew up in
Lumberton Township, New Jersey. He later played hockey at
Lawrenceville School for his freshman and sophomore years, leaving school after being drafted. In the
2006 NHL entry draft, Sanguinetti was selected by the
New York Rangers with the 21st pick in the first round. Sanguinetti, who grew up a Ranger fan, has said he tries to model his game after former Ranger great
Brian Leetch, and has worn 22 to honor Leetch, who wore number 2. Sanguinetti had a breakthrough year during the
2006–07 season, finishing second among all
Ontario Hockey League (OHL) defensemen in goals scored (23), and tenth with 53 points. The
Owen Sound Attack were eliminated in four games in the playoffs, but Sanguinetti played well, with three goals and three assists in the four games. With his team eliminated Sanguinetti was called up to the Rangers'
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the
Hartford Wolf Pack. In seven regular season games for the team, he put up five assists and had one point in the playoffs. Sanguinetti was signed to his first professional contract in April 2007 by the Rangers. During the
2008 Stanley Cup playoffs, Sanguinetti would greet fans outside the arena and sign autographs. Sanguinetti was promoted to the Rangers for their game on January 10, 2009, but did not play and was returned to Hartford the following day. In 2009, Sanguinetti was selected for the AHL's all-star game, playing for PlanetUSA, along with
Russian teammate
Artem Anisimov. Sanguinetti led PlanetUSA in the hardest shot competition. In the 2009–10 season, Sanguinetti was again selected to the AHL all-star game, and won the fastest skater competition, setting a new AHL record. During the season, he was called up to the Rangers twice, from November 26 to December 1 and from December 16 to December 19. He made his NHL debut on December 27 against the
Tampa Bay Lightning, playing 16.14 minutes on 22 shifts. He played a total of 5 games for the Rangers, with no points and four penalty minutes. During the
lockout-shortened
2012–13 season, Sanguinetti scored his first NHL goal on February 24, 2013, on the road against the
New York Islanders. He played in a career-high 37 games with the Hurricanes recording 6 points. Sanguinetti and the Carolina Hurricanes were not able to agree to contract terms for the
2013–14 season, so he signed as a free agent in the Russian
Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on a two-year contract with
Atlant Moscow Oblast on July 11, 2013. On July 1, 2014, he signed a one-year free agent contract to return to the NHL with the
Vancouver Canucks. On July 2, 2015, Sanguinetti left the Canucks organization as a free agent and signed a one-year, two-way contract with the
Buffalo Sabres. He made 40 appearances for Buffalo's AHL affiliate
Rochester Americans in the 2015–16 season, tallying seven goals and eight assists, and did not see any NHL action. Upon the conclusion of the season, he took up an offer from Switzerland, signing with
Kloten of the
National League A (NLA) on July 6, 2016. He finished the season with 29 points, including 9 goals in 44 contests, missing a few games with concussion-like symptoms. On May 24, 2017, Sanguinetti agreed to a one-year contract with
Lugano. The contract contained an option for a second year but no NHL-out clause. In the
2017-18 season, Sanguinetti led the blueline in scoring among Lugano, contributing with 11 goals and 29 points in 46 games. As an unsigned free agent into the mid-point of the
2018–19 season, Sanguinetti returned to his former club, the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, for the remainder of the campaign on January 1, 2019. He appeared in 10 playoff games, posting 6 points to help the Checkers claim their maiden
Calder Cup. As a free agent, Sanguinetti opted to return abroad, securing a one-year contract with German club, EHC München of the DEL, on September 8, 2019. ==Career statistics==