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Austin Watson

Austin Watson Placed In COVID Protocol

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The Ottawa Senators have announced that forward Austin Watson has been placed in the COVID protocol. Watson played last night against the Vegas Golden Knights, but will be unavailable for an indefinite period of time.

As a reminder, inclusion in the protocol does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list are the following:

(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol.

Watson only made his season debut a few days ago after returning from an ankle injury he suffered in the preseason. At the time, his head coach D.J. Smith noted how important his intensity and leadership is to the group, noting that they could use his help on the penalty kill as well. Just two games later and he’s out of the lineup again, at least until he is removed from the protocol.

The Senators play again tomorrow, but unfortunately, that game is in the afternoon. It seems unlikely at this point that Watson will be able to go, though because of the lack of details it is unclear at this point.

Scott Sabourin Clears Waivers

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Nov 2: Sabourin has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues.

Nov 1: The Ottawa Senators have placed Scott Sabourin on waivers according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, in order to create roster space for Austin Watson. While the team has one open roster spot currently, Matt Murray will take it when he is activated from injured reserve in time for tonight’s game. Watson is expected to be activated tomorrow and play against the Minnesota Wild.

Sabourin, 29, has played in just one game this season for the Senators, logging just over six minutes of ice time. The minor league veteran is known more for his fists than his scoring ability and will likely be brought up again this season whenever the team feels it needs some added toughness. He’ll likely pass through unclaimed, as he has several times in the past including last season when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In 314 AHL contests, Sabourin has racked up 668 penalty minutes, compared to just 79 points. Despite his lack of offensive upside, he’s still carved out quite a lengthy professional career. His one-year, two-way contract is the fifth NHL contract of his career and this one will pay him $200K at the minor league level.

Injury Notes: Canadiens, Lightning, Watson

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The Montreal Canadiens are facing two big game-time decisions for Sunday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks in defenseman Jeff Petry and forward Brendan Gallagher, as reported by The Athletic’s Arpon Basu. Basu notes that Sami Niku will draw in for Petry if he’s unavailable, while Jake Evans, who’s still not 100 percent in his recovery from an undisclosed injury, would play in place of Gallagher if needed. It’s tough news for an already banged-up team that also lost Mathieu Perreault to injury today for two-to-three weeks. Petry and Gallagher have both had extremely slow starts, as Petry has no points through nine games with Gallagher has just a goal and an assist. It’ll undoubtedly force a lineup shakeup for Sunday’s game.

More injury notes from around the league:

  • The status of Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Steven Stamkos and Boris Katchouk is uncertain for Monday night’s game against the Washington Capitals. The Athletic’s Joe Smith reports that Stamkos was absent from practice Sunday, taking a maintenance day, and head coach Jon Cooper is “hopeful” he’ll play Monday night but isn’t certain. Katchouk was hurt in practice Sunday and could be out longer. The 23-year-old forward has gotten into four games this season and is still searching for his first NHL point.
  • Ottawa Senators forward Austin Watson is close to returning and could be ready for the team’s game against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, per head coach D.J. Smith. Watson hasn’t played this season due to an ankle injury suffered during training camp. The return comes slightly ahead of the four-week timeline issued on October 10th. He could draw into the lineup in place of Logan Shaw, who’s registered no points in seven games while playing just 8:08 per game.

Atlantic Notes: Bruins, Mittelstadt, Watson

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Bruins forward Curtis Lazar was back in the lineup tonight against Florida but he very nearly wasn’t.  He told reporters, including Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, that he was very close to having surgery to repair his injured elbow which would have taken him out for the majority of the remainder of the regular season.  Instead, simply resting it has worked well enough – for now at least – to allow the 26-year-old to return after just missing four games.  Lazar’s timing to return is certainly good with veteran Craig Smith not accompanying the team on their two-game road trip.  Anton Blidh was transferred to IR to make room for Lazar’s activation.

More from the Atlantic:

  • The Sabres are hoping that center Casey Mittelstadt will be able to return to the lineup after their road trip, reports Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News (Twitter link). The 22-year-old suffered an upper-body injury in their season-opening win over Montreal and has been out ever since.  Buffalo will kick off a four-game West Coast road trip on Thursday so Mittelstadt won’t be able to return until November 6th against Detroit.
  • Senators winger Austin Watson could return to Ottawa’s lineup for their game on Friday, suggests Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 29-year-old suffered an ankle injury in the final game of the postseason and hasn’t played since but did participate in practice today.  The Sens have an open roster spot even with the recent addition of Dylan Gambrell so no move will need to be made to activate Watson off injured reserve.

Austin Watson Out Four Weeks For Ottawa Senators

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Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith confirmed today that forward Austin Watson will be out of the lineup for four weeks. The veteran winger sustained an ankle injury during the preseason.

Things are turning sour quickly for the Senators, who’ll now be without both Watson and Colin White, as well as potentially Brady Tkachuk, for their season opener. They’ll play their first game of the 2021-22 season at home on Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Watson, largely brought into Ottawa for his grit and fighting ability, has been a remarkably consistent bottom-six player over the past few seasons. He made his impact felt during his first season in Ottawa last year, tallying three goals and 10 points in 34 games while adding on 40 penalty minutes.

Now 29 years old, the Ann Arbor, Michigan native spent eight years in the Nashville Predators organizations before moving to Ottawa prior to last season. He was a first-round pick of the Predators in 2010, drafted 18th overall. Watson has 39 goals and 87 points in 340 career games.

If Ottawa needs a physical presence while Watson is on the shelf, they could look to Scott Sabourin as an internal replacement. Largely a career AHLer, Sabourin got into 35 games with the Sens back in 2019-20 and could reprise his role as an enforcer again.

Atlantic Notes: Ryan, Watson, Power, Lazar

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Decisions have been made on many of the players who were attending NHL training camps on tryouts but one call that hasn’t been made yet is Red Wings winger Bobby Ryan.  The veteran was in Detroit last season but settled for a PTO deal at the beginning of training camp.  MLive’s Ansar Khan suggests that Ryan has done well enough to earn a spot and could slot into their top six following the long-term injury to Jakub Vrana.  While he’s not an ideal fit in that role at this stage of his career, the 34-year-old managed seven goals in 33 games last season and could still contribute a little bit in a middle-six role.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic Division:

  • Senators winger Austin Watson suffered an ankle injury in Thursday’s game against Montreal and there is no timetable for his return, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. Entering his second season in Ottawa, the 29-year-old was likely to start the season in an energy role once again after recording 100 hits in 34 games last season but that appears to be in question now.
  • Postmedia’s Michael Traikos spoke with Sabres top draft pick Owen Power regarding his decision to return to college over signing and debuting with Buffalo this season. Power indicated that he’s “in no rush to get to the NHL” and feels that some young players would be better off being more patient and take an extra year before turning pro.  The defenseman will be on a loaded Michigan team this season and could very well wind up seeing some action with the Sabres this season once his college campaign gets to an end.
  • Bruins center Curtis Lazar is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, relays Matt Porter of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). The 26-year-old crashed into the net in Wednesday’s preseason contest against Washington.  While viewed as an afterthought in the Taylor Hall trade last year, Lazar carved out a regular role on Boston’s fourth line, logging nearly 13 minutes a game with Boston following the swap.

Injury Updates: Panthers, Avalanche, Sabres Goalies, Watson

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The Panthers are in a battle for first place in the Central Division but will be without a few regulars for a little while.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goalie Chris Driedger has been ruled out for the rest of the road trip which takes him out for the next three games though he isn’t expected to be out much longer than that.  Winger Patric Hornqvist is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Meanwhile, winger Carter Verhaeghe isn’t expected to play on the trip either, notes David Wilson of the Miami Herald.  As a result, Florida entered tonight’s game down two of their top four scorers plus their top netminder statistically.  Between that and Carolina holding two games in hand, the Panthers will have their work cut out for them if they want to secure that top seed.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram and winger Logan O’Connor have both suffered setbacks in their recoveries from upper- and lower-body injuries respectively, reports Mike Chambers of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Byram was recently taken off the COVID-Protocol Related Absences (CPRA) List but his injury preceded his placement there.  As for O’Connor, he has been out since the end of March.  Both players are now listed as week-to-week.
  • On the other hand, Colorado is set to get several key regulars back as com’s Rick Sadowski mentions that wingers Mikko Rantanen and Joonas Donskoi plus goalie Philipp Grubauer could all return to the lineup on Friday. Those three were on the CPRA list until recently as well and would undoubtedly provide a boost to the Avalanche’s lineup as they look to chase down Vegas for the top seed in the West.
  • The Sabres are unlikely to have goaltenders Linus Ullmark or Carter Hutton return this season, reports Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News. Ullmark has not yet resumed skating after suffering a lower-body injury two weeks ago while interim head coach Don Granato noted that Hutton recently had a setback after resuming skating as he worked his way back from a leg issue.  That means that Dustin Tokarski and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will likely remain Buffalo’s tandem for the rest of the year.
  • The Senators have ruled out a return for winger Austin Watson this season, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Watson suffered a wrist injury back in late March, one that carried a four-to-six week recovery time and it appears it will be the latter with him not returning.  He wraps up his first year with Ottawa with 10 points, 40 penalty minutes, and 100 hits in 34 games.

Senators Acquire Austin Watson

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The Senators have added some muscle on the wings, announcing the acquisition of winger Austin Watson from Nashville.  In return, the Predators acquire Colorado’s fourth-round pick in 2021 (previously acquired by Ottawa).  GM Pierre Dorion released the following statement on the deal:

Austin Watson is a big, strong winger who will bring a significant presence to our forward group. He was among Nashville’s forward leaders in blocked shots last season, was the team’s leader in hits and is someone who is especially physical on the forecheck. We also expect him to be a valuable asset on our penalty kill.

The 28-year-old is coming off a fairly quiet season offensively after putting up six goals and eight assists in 53 games in 2019-20, his lowest point total since his rookie year in 2015-16.  However, as Dorion alluded to, he has been one of Nashville’s more physical players over the years and will bring that dimension to the Senators.  He has two years remaining on his contract with a $1.5MM AAV and that same salary each season.

As for Nashville, Watson’s spot is effectively being filled by Nick Cousins who signed a two-year deal yesterday with the same $1.5MM AAV.  The Preds now have over $14MM in cap room to work with, per CapFriendly but have several forwards to sign to fill out their roster.  Moving Watson out gives them a bit more flexibility as they look to reshape their forward group following the departures of Nick Bonino, Craig Smith, Kyle Turris, and Mikael Granlund.

Nashville’s Austin Watson Moved From Healthy Scratch To First Line

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It has now been a week and a half since John Hynes replaced Peter Laviolette as the head coach of the Nashville Predators. In that time, it has been a mixed bag of results. Hynes lost his debut mere hours after his hire became official, but it came at the hands of the Boston Bruins, one of the league’s best teams. The Predators then scored a convincing win over the Chicago Blackhawks and a hard fought two points against the Winnipeg Jets. Just when it looked like the coaching change could be paying immediate dividends, Nashville dropped their past two games to the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks.

Hynes has apparently decided that major lineup changes may be in order to get the team to play up to their expectations and he plans to begin those experiments on Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres. After already demoting Viktor Arvidsson to the third line, Hynes is set to roll out another major lineup change. Austin Watson goes from healthy scratch for four of the five games of Hynes’ young tenure to the first line, joining Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok. He replaces Craig Smith, who is set to fall all the way to the fourth line with Kyle Turris and Colin Blackwell, with Yakov Trenin getting the healthy scratch due to Watson’s addition.

Hynes’ thinking with this move may not be as focused on offense as it is on defense. In fact, while many Nashville forwards have been disappointing on an individual basis this season, the team is tied for eighth in the NHL in goals for per game. The same can’t be said for goals against, where the Predators are ranked 24th. Nashville simply has not been a difficult team to play against this season and the loss of Colton Sissons has only exasperated that fact. There has been an obvious lack of physical response and energy from the forward group many nights. As they struggle to get a more balanced, two-way effort out of their forwards, Hynes may be hoping that a refreshed Watson, who leads the team in hits by a wide margin despite sitting six games (and Sissons is in second) can add some punch to the top line. Meanwhile, Smith can bring some experience and scoring threat to the fourth line, where maybe he can even get Turris re-energized.

Perhaps more important than strategy is that this moves by Hynes sends a message that no one’s role is safe under the new coach. The effort has to improve and no one is irreplaceable if they don’t perform. If the team continues to lose, don’t be surprised to see GM David Poile send the same message to his roster by the trade deadline.

Predators Sign Austin Watson To A Three-Year Extension

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Austin Watson will be sticking around with Nashville for a few more years.  In a rare mid-game announcement, the Predators announced that they’ve signed the winger to a three-year, $4.5MM contract extension.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the deal pays a straight $1.5MM each season with no signing bonuses or trade protection.  GM David Poile released the following statement regarding the deal:

Austin is the ultimate team player and we look forward to continuing to see him thrive and be an impactful member of our team.  The Predators organization continues to support Austin and his family and are pleased to take this next step forward with them. His hard work, coupled with a caring environment has him in a good place to be successful on and off the ice. Austin sticks up for his teammates and does whatever is necessary to help this team win hockey games.

After being more of an energy player at the beginning of his career, Watson has started to show that he can be more of an offensive producer in recent years, posting a career high in goals (14) and points (19) in 2017-18 and points per game (0.43) last season.  He’s off to a bit of a quieter start this year with a goal and an assist in two games but his ice time has also dipped under the 13 minute per game mark.  Nonetheless, while he isn’t hitting the scoresheet too often yet, he does lead the team in hits and is among the league leaders in blocks per game by a forward.

Watson, a 2010 first-round pick (18th overall), has spent his entire career with the Nashville organization.  Over his NHL career which spans parts of six seasons, he has 31 goals and 34 assists in 206 games while chipping in with 536 hits.  $1.5MM is certainly a reasonable rate for a winger that’s capable of playing a regular role on the third line and represents a $400K raise on his current $1.1MM AAV.

Poile and the Predators still have a lot of work to do with their pending free agents, even after extending Roman Josi back on Tuesday.  Wingers Mikael Granlund and Craig Smith highlight a group of seven players that are slated to become unrestricted free agents in July.  With Watson’s deal, Nashville has nearly $70MM committed to 15 players for next season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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