With the drama of free agency winding down, it’s time to pick things back up with our 2023-24 player reviews. The Stamkos drama and the Sergachev trade upended our quest to post all of the pending free agents before free agency actually started, but we can still knock those players out. Up today is Austin Watson.
The Basics
Name: Austin Watson
Position: Forward
Counting Stats: 33 Games, 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 7:16 TOI
Extra Stats (5v5): 41.90 CF%, 41.18 SF%, 58.33 GF%, 39.99 xGF%, 39.62 HDCF%, .950 On-ice Save Percentage, 1.62 iXG
2023-24 Contract: 1 year, $776,665
Contract Status: Pending unrestricted free agent
The Charts
The Review
To be honest, we weren’t really sure that Austin Watson would last long enough to warrant an end-of-the-season review. Signed to a last-minute PTO, he earned a contract with a solid training camp (one that brought the team within $2 of the salary cap), and then began the season with the Bolts. Through all of the injuries and transactions Watson managed to stay on the roster and ended up appearing in 33 Games.
While he ended up being a healthy scratch for most of the second half of the season, and dealt with a lower-body injury of his own, Watson provided a veteran clubhouse presence for the entire year while chipping in a pair of goals.
As you can see from the charts above as well as his underlying numbers, Watson wasn’t a game-changer on the ice. He was a solid fourth-liner that brought physicality, his 19.69 hits per 60 minutes was tops on the team, and toughness, his 7 majors was tied for the team lead with Tanner Jeannot.
In all, it was a pretty tough year for the 33-year-old as he posted career-low numbers in goals scored and assists while averaging just over seven minutes a night on the ice, also the lowest of his career. However, he did provide a veteran presence on the fourth line when the likes of Conor Sheary and Tyler Motte were out with injuries. As those players returned, and Mitchell Chaffee emerged as a starter, Watson saw his playing time dwindle.
Still, as a fourth-liner, he did his job in suppressing offense. While he was on the ice, only 12 pucks ended up in the net with 7 of those coming from the Lightning. Of the skaters that were on the ice for more than 150 minutes of 5v5 time, only Waltteri Merela saw the goal light go on less. While he didn’t help generate many high-danger chances, he also wasn’t on the ice for many against as the 8.18 HDCA/60 was one of the best numbers posted by a Lightning forward last year.
It’ll likely be another PTO for him at some point this summer, but with the way the Lightning’s roster has evolved over the last two weeks, it’s unlikely that it will be in Tampa Bay.
Preview Reviews
