Prior to today’s waiver wire frenzy, PuckPedia posted a Tweet which is notable.

It spells out the Red Wings’ options for signing Austin Watson to an NHL contract and then waiving him to send him to Grand Rapids on or before the NHL’s 23-man roster deadline of 5 PM on Monday, October 7th:

In order to send a player that requires waivers down prior to tomorrow's 5pm opening roster submission, they must be on waivers today.

The exception is if a team signs a player tomorrow, they can place him on waivers and he won't be on the opening roster.

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 6, 2024

So now we know.