Austin Watson

Watson was selected by the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) draft in the second round, 36th overall.

Watson chose to play with Windsor, foregoing his Verbal commitment to Maine.

Watson surprised people with his fast skating and smart play in his rookie season.

Despite the fact that Watson hit a slump mid-season, he came out with 10 goals and 19 assists, for a total of 29 points.

During the playoffs, after a total of 20 games played, he snatched up 3 more points in the form of assists.

He accompanied the Spitfires to becoming the most elite in the league, winning the OHL's J. Ross Robertson Cup, and were named the Canadian Hockey League's Memorial Cup champions.

The team were at the same same time breaking the record and becoming the first team to ever come back for an overall win from fourth place in the finals.

Also, it was the first Spitfires franchise win of the Memorial Cup.

Austin Watson (born January 13, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey left winger with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Austin Watson was born January 13, 1992, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was raised by his father and mother, Mike and Mary Watson.

He is the oldest of ten children, nine boys and one girl.

He went to school one year at Detroit Catholic Central High School, and one year at Father Gabriel Richard High School before he was drafted into the OHL, where he attended St. Anne's High School, and after being traded to Peterborough, finishing high school there.

Watson played for the high school golf team at Father Gabriel Richard, where they went to state finals.

As a youth, Watson played in the 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors minor ice hockey team.

Watson verbally committed to the University of Maine Black Bears college hockey program.

He was selected 18th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

He has also played for the Ottawa Senators.

On January 11, 2010, the Spitfires traded Watson to the Peterborough Petes.

The trade was to his benefit, as he received a chance at more playing time on this younger team.

Watson played in the 2010 CHL Top Prospects game for Team Cherry, and played well, as he, among other things, broke up a 5-on-3 penalty kill, though he unfortunately broke his ankle blocking a second shot and missed a month with the Petes.

While playing with the Spitfires, Watson was projected to go 25th according to the International Scouting Service (ISS) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but after an advantageous trade to the Petes, he jumped in rank to 14th in April, where the NHL Central Scouting Final Ranks placed him.

According to the ISS, he ranked 12th.

On January 9, 2012, the Petes traded Watson to the London Knights for Chase Hatcher and a series of draft picks.

He won a second J. Ross Robertson Cup with the Knights that season, receiving playoff MVP honors.

He became the first American to win OHL Playoff MVP honors.

The Knights also took part in the Memorial Cup tournament that year, losing to the Shawinigan Cataractes in the championship game.

Watson began playing professionally during the 2012–13 season, where he scored 37 points in 72 games for the Predators' AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

He also appeared in six games for the Predators, where he scored his first career NHL goal against MiKKa Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames on April 23, 2013.

Watson became a regular in the Predators lineup during the 2015–16 NHL season, suiting up in 57 games, but was a healthy scratch many games.

In the following season, on October 6, 2016, he was placed on waivers but went unclaimed.

Watson skated in 77 games for the Predators that season, scoring 17 points.

He also recorded 4 goals and 9 points in 22 playoff games, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history.

The Predators ultimately fell in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He was used predominantly as a bottom-six forward by the Predators.

On July 24, 2017, the Predators re-signed Watson to a three-year, $3.3 million contract worth $1.1 million annually.

In the 2017–18 season, Watson received his first NHL two-game suspension for boarding Colorado Avalanche forward Dominic Toninato on November 18, 2017.

Watson was drafted in the first round, 18th overall by the Nashville Predators.

Watson missed the first 18 games of the 2018–19 season due to a suspension for non-hockey related reasons and on January 29, 2019, Watson was suspended indefinitely after an alcohol related relapse.

After completing the NHL's substance abuse program, Watson was reinstated and assigned to Milwaukee on March 25, 2019.

He was recalled by Nashville on April 2, 2019, after scoring four goals in two games with Milwaukee.