The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan focuses on Red Wings pro try-out Austin Watson in his Thursday afternoon notebook:
“You saw the core group of guys, the high-end talent, the young guys coming up,” said Watson, 32, an Ann Arbor native and 10-year NHL veteran. “You see this team just getting better and better. For me being able to bring that element of some physicality, jam, being hard to play against, sticking up for guys when that’s necessary, I thought that could be a good fit for both sides.”
Watson is with the Wings on a professional tryout this preseason. Be it in games, or practices, Watson has shown the ability to use his 6-foot-4, 238-pound frame, win battles and keep the opposition honest.
“We expect the hard from him,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “We expect him to win battles, wall battles. But one important viewing for us was he’s got to be able to help us five-on-five. Through two games so far, he’s done that well.”
Watson was a first-round pick (18th overall) in 2010 by Nashville. He’s played with Nashville, Ottawa and Tampa Bay, playing in 515 games with 118 points (60 goals) and 705 penalty minutes. It’s tough for any veteran player to agree to a tryout, but expected it this past summer.
“I didn’t expect to be on a PTO (professional tryout) last year,” said Watson, before earning a spot in Tampa. “I came off two years where I scored 10 and nine goals and fought a bunch (with Ottawa), so a little caught off-guard. This year, having only played (33) games, I kind of had an expectation that this might be the case and having gone through it before has made it a little bit easier. You just do what you can, and let the cards fall where they may.”
Continued (paywall)
