The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to finalize their 2023-24 roster as they announced that forward Austin Watson, who had been in training camp on a PTO, agreed to a one-year contract worth $776,665. The 31-year-old spent last season with the Ottawa Senators.
The Lightning will be Watson’s third NHL team in his career. He spent the first six seasons with the Nashville Predators and the last three with Ottawa. Over his nine seasons, he’s posted 58 goals and 56 assists in 482 games.
He won’t bring much offensive bang to the team, but should play league-average defense on the fourth line while also making sure that no one takes any liberties with the Lightning’s top players.
With him signing for slightly over the league minimum, general manager Julien BriseBois is able to maximize 100% of the LTIR from Brent Seabrook’s contract. Once the roster is approved by the league (which should be around 5:00 PM EST today), he will likely put Andrei Vasilevskiy on LTIR and make a couple of call-ups to round out the roster.
Here is the official press release from the Lightning:
TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning signed forward Austin Watson to a one-year contract worth $776,665, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today.
The 31-year-old Watson played 75 games for the Ottawa Senators last season, recording nine goals and 11 points. Three of Watson’s nine goals came shorthanded, and he ranked tied for first on the Senators for shorthanded goals. Watson was third on the Senators for hits with 165 and blocked 61 shots, the most among Ottawa forwards and seventh among all Ottawa skaters.
Watson has played nine seasons in the NHL between the Senators and Nashville Predators, tallying 58 goals and 114 points over 482 games. He played four preseason games with the Lightning in 2023 on a professional tryout offer.
Watson was originally a first-round selection (18th overall) of Nashville in the 2010 NHL Draft.
