It was announced by Frank Seravalli of TSN Sports that forward Austin Watson was acquired by the Ottawa Senators. The return to the Nashville Predators was a 2021 fourth-round pick.
#Sens acquire Austin Watson from #preds for a 2021 4th round pick (from COL).
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) October 10, 2020
Austin Watson Traded to Ottawa Senators
The six-year left-wing has played his entire career in Nashville. The 28-year-old native of Ann Arbor, Michigan was the Predators 18th overall selection in the 2010 NHL entry draft. Watson has not drawn much attention but is a physical player with 646 hits in 306 NHL games. He has added 36 goals and 41 assists in his career. His faceoff win percentage is a respectable 48.2. He is not the best possession player with just a 44.7 Corsi For and a Relative Corsi of -8.8. Watson has averaged 12:04 minutes of ice time and will be a good bottom-six player.
He had his best season in the league during the 2017-18 season. He had 14 goals and five assists and led the team in hits with 187. In fact, that may his best attribute to help the Senators. He stands 6′-4″, 204 pounds and is not meek about using his physical game to help his team succeed. He also was third on the Preds that season in shooting percentage with a 14.6 rate. It gives to the question as to why he doesn’t shoot more often. He will get a good chance to do that in Ottawa, who almost revamped their entire team through the draft and free agent signings. Watson has a contract worth $1.5 million through the 2022-23 season.
The most significant addition from the free agency market has to be Matt Murray. He signed four-year $25 million deal to fortify the Sens net for some time. That’s huge.
Adding Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson has upgraded an Ottawa club significantly. Look for their continued success in the near future.
What This Means Going Forward
Sometimes the addition of bottom-six players like Watson can really help a team get to where they want to be. He will, along with the physical play of Brady Tkachuk (303 hits last season), certainly make the Senators a tough team to play against. Look for Watson to shine in Ottawa.
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