The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Austin Watson to a professional tryout contract. Watson has been a member of the Ottawa Senators organisation for the past three seasons. He became a free agent after his three-year $4.5 million contract expired July 1st. During the 2022-23 season he was a mainstay on the Senators’ bottom-six. He scored nine goals and 11 points in 75 games, which was the most games he played in a single season since 2017-18.
With Austin Watson, the Lightning know what they’re getting. He’s a ferocious competitor, throws his body around, plays solid defence and penalty killing.
Watson was originally an 18th overall pick of the Nashville Predators in the 2010 NHL Draft.
Over his nine-year NHL career, Watson has played 482 games between the Predators and Senators and scored 58 goals and 114 points over that span. He also notched 612 penalty minutes and a combined -5 rating in his career.
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