Tampa Bay Lightning Preseason Standouts: Austin Watson
For a nine-year veteran of the NHL, Austin Watson has approached the preseason like a man with something to prove.
And to be fair, he does because he is with Tampa in camp on a professional tryout contract.
He’s been extremely active in his two appearances thus far in the preseason, both against Nashville. In the first meeting last week, Watson logged just 7 minutes of 5 v 5 ice time (12 minutes overall) but still managed two hits during even-strength play. He also generated five scoring chances that night and got into a fight.
In the second matchup on Saturday, Watson scored a goal. He is third on the team in 5 v 5 shot attempts and leads the team in high-danger chances despite logging 10 fewer minutes of even-strength ice time than some other notable forwards jockeying for position on this team.
The injury to Andrei Vasilevskiy helps Watson’s chances of making the team, ironically enough. With $9.5 million freed up in LTIR cap space, the Tampa Bay Lightning could opt to keep 23 players for now until Vasilevskiy comes back.