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Austin Watson

#24 · Left wing · Free agent, last with the Detroit Red Wings

Born Jan 13, 1992 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA · 6'4", 203 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 18th overall in 2010 by NSH (round 1)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2018-19. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Michael Grabner ARI · 16 P in 41 GP Denis Malgin FLA · 16 P in 50 GP Tyler Motte VAN · 16 P in 74 GP Melker Karlsson SJS · 16 P in 79 GP Zachary Aston-Reese PIT · 17 P in 43 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

0510152012-13: 1 points112-132015-16: 10 points1015-162016-17: 17 points1716-172017-18: 19 points1917-182018-19: 16 points1618-192019-20: 14 points1419-202020-21: 10 points1020-212021-22: 16 points1621-222022-23: 11 points1122-232023-24: 4 points423-242024-25: 3 points324-25

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2012-13 NSH 6 1 0 1 -2 0 4 2 0.17
2015-16 NSH 57 3 7 10 -4 32 55 74 0.18 $575K
2016-17 NSH 77 5 12 17 14 99 90 143 0.22 $575K
2017-18 NSH 76 14 5 19 2 123 96 187 0.25 $1.1M
2018-19 NSH 37 7 9 16 11 39 64 109 0.43 $1.1M
2019-20 NSH 53 6 8 14 -9 65 50 131 0.26 $1.1M
2020-21 OTT 34 3 7 10 -7 40 41 100 0.29 $1.5M
2021-22 OTT 67 10 6 16 -3 91 88 213 0.24 $1.5M
2022-23 OTT 75 9 2 11 -7 123 79 165 0.15 $1.5M
2023-24 TBL 33 2 2 4 2 93 17 85 0.12 $775K
2024-25 DET 13 3 0 3 1 17 13 36 0.23 $775K
11 seasons Career 528 63 58 121 -2 722 597 1245 0.23

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2016-17 NSH 22 4 5 9 3 28 28 106 0.41
2017-18 NSH 13 5 3 8 3 12 25 37 0.62
2018-19 NSH 6 1 1 2 -2 6 14 35 0.33
2019-20 NSH 4 0 0 0 0 2 6 14 0.00
4 seasons Playoffs 45 10 9 19 4 48 73 192 0.42

2018-19 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
37 7 9 16 11 39 64 109 0.43 10.9 14:30

Contract

$1.1MCap hitends in 2020, then UFA
$69KCap dollars per point16 points in 37 games
$39.66MCap dollars per goal above replacement0.0 goals above replacement
$644KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$456KValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 696 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. It runs through 2019-20, with 1 season left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2018-19 $1.1M
2019-20 $1.1M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Mar 5, 2025 Detroit Red Wings Extension 2025-26 to 2025-26 1 $775K $775K
Oct 7, 2024 Detroit Red Wings New contract 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $775K $775K
2023-24 to 2023-24 $775K
2020-21 to 2022-23 $1.5M
2018-19 to 2019-20 $1.1M
2017-18 to 2017-18 $1.1M
2015-16 to 2016-17 $575K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2018-19 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2018-19 playoff analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

+0.1Goals above replacementsix goals are worth about one win
+0.0Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-0.1Goals above averagethe five parts below added up
Even-strength offence+0.7Even-strength defence-0.2Power play0.0Penalty kill-0.1Penalties-0.5

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. A playoff run is too short to rank anyone on. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-4-20242012-132016-172018-192020-212022-232024-25Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

43.1Corsi for %66 attempts for, 87 against
-13.2CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
54.3Expected goals for %4.4 expected for, 3.7 against
-1.2xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
50.0Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
40.0Goals for %4 for, 6 against
93.3PDO9.5% shooting + 83.8% saves
18Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Nick Bonino · Austin Watson · Colton Sissons537:4339.046.01-4
Brian Boyle · Nick Bonino · Austin Watson212:1353.871.71-0
Nick Bonino · Craig Smith · Austin Watson14:5640.080.90-0
Calle Jarnkrok · Austin Watson · Rocco Grimaldi23:2366.7100.01-0

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

1Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.8Expected goalsfrom 15 unblocked attempts
-0.8Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 1.42 expected goals per 60 minutes98th
Shot quality 11.7% chance per attempt94th
Finishing -0.8 goals above expected41stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 66 who played at least a quarter as much as the busiest in these playoffs.

00.511.5Expected 1.8Goals 1

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took in these playoffs, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 6, 2019 vs CHI W 5-2 0 1 1 1 0 4 3 15:19
Apr 4, 2019 vs VAN W 3-2 0 2 2 2 0 1 3 14:20
Apr 2, 2019 @ BUF W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 4 14:14
Jan 23, 2019 @ VGK W 2-1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 13:48
Jan 21, 2019 @ COL W 4-1 0 1 1 2 7 1 5 13:08
Jan 19, 2019 vs FLA L 2-4 1 1 2 2 0 1 4 10:50
Jan 17, 2019 vs WPG L 1-5 0 0 0 -1 0 3 2 16:57
Jan 15, 2019 vs WSH W 7-2 0 1 1 1 5 0 0 12:44
Jan 13, 2019 @ CAR L 3-6 0 0 0 1 5 1 0 09:22
Jan 10, 2019 @ CBJ L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 13:15
Jan 9, 2019 @ CHI W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 14:13
Jan 7, 2019 @ TOR W 4-0 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 14:12
Jan 5, 2019 @ MTL W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 17:06
Jan 4, 2019 @ DET L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 5 1 5 13:32
Jan 1, 2019 vs PHI W 4-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 15:10
Dec 31, 2018 @ WSH W 6-3 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 15:38
Dec 29, 2018 vs NYR L 3-4 0 0 0 -1 0 4 2 14:57
Dec 27, 2018 vs DAL L 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 09:38
Dec 22, 2018 @ BOS L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 10:22
Dec 20, 2018 @ PHI L 1-2 0 0 0 -2 0 2 2 15:35
Dec 18, 2018 @ CHI L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 3 3 14:35
Dec 17, 2018 @ OTT L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 15:55
Dec 15, 2018 vs NJD W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 2 3 5 17:14
Dec 13, 2018 vs VAN W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 15:54
Dec 11, 2018 vs OTT W 3-1 1 0 1 1 0 3 4 15:19
Dec 8, 2018 @ CGY L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 15:47
Dec 6, 2018 @ VAN L 3-5 0 0 0 2 2 1 3 14:40
Dec 3, 2018 vs BUF W 2-1 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 17:21
Dec 1, 2018 vs CHI W 5-2 1 0 1 1 2 2 4 15:15
Nov 29, 2018 vs ARI L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 15:44
Nov 27, 2018 vs COL L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 14:37
Nov 25, 2018 vs ANA W 5-2 3 0 3 3 0 4 0 16:06
Nov 23, 2018 @ STL L 2-6 0 0 0 0 7 3 3 15:10
Nov 21, 2018 vs STL W 4-1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 11:47
Nov 19, 2018 vs TBL W 3-2 0 0 0 -1 0 2 3 17:11
Nov 17, 2018 vs LAK W 5-3 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 17:39
Nov 15, 2018 @ ARI L 1-2 0 1 1 1 0 1 5 11:41