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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 2023-24. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Kevin Rooney CGY · 4 P in 33 GP Tyler Pitlick NYR · 4 P in 34 GP Jaret Anderson-Dolan NSH · 4 P in 31 GP Givani Smith SJS · 4 P in 36 GP Jonah Gadjovich FLA · 4 P in 39 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

2023-24 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
33 2 2 4 2 93 17 85 0.12 11.8 7:16

Contract

$775KCap hitends in 2024
$194KCap dollars per point4 points in 33 games
-$233KWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$1MValueworth 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. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 718 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 2023-24, so this is its last season.

Season Cap hit
2023-24 $775K

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 2023-24 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.

2023-24 analytics

Rating

-1.3Goals above replacement614th of 721 skaters, 410th of 469 forwards
-0.2Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-2.0Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 469 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence-2.4 21st percentileEven-strength defence+1.1 64th percentilePower play0.0 57th percentilePenalty kill+0.0 62nd percentilePenalties-0.6 14th percentile

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, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Provisional: under 40 games it is more chance than player.

-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

42.7Corsi for %172 attempts for, 231 against
-8.0CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
38.9Expected goals for %5.3 expected for, 8.2 against
-14.2xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
41.7Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
58.3Goals for %7 for, 5 against
104.9PDO9.9% shooting + 95.0% saves
33Attempts 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
Austin Watson · Luke Glendening · Tyler Motte1762:2554.658.11-2
Austin Watson · Luke Glendening · Tanner Jeannot936:3856.548.92-1
Austin Watson · Luke Glendening · Waltteri Merela736:2128.824.50-0
Austin Watson · Luke Glendening · Cole Koepke517:1716.713.40-1

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.

2Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.2Expected goalsfrom 25 unblocked attempts
+0.8Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.30 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 4.8% chance per attempt1st
Finishing +0.8 goals above expected60thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 438 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.511.52Game 20Goals 2Expected 1.2

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 this season, 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 17, 2024 vs TOR W 6-4 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 11:37
Apr 11, 2024 vs OTT L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 08:00
Apr 4, 2024 @ MTL W 7-4 0 0 0 -2 2 0 2 08:51
Mar 24, 2024 @ ANA W 3-2 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 11:25
Mar 9, 2024 vs PHI W 7-0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 07:56
Feb 17, 2024 vs FLA L 2-9 0 0 0 0 17 0 3 09:11
Feb 8, 2024 @ NYI L 2-6 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 08:29
Jan 21, 2024 @ DET L 1-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 05:33
Jan 20, 2024 @ BUF W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 06:36
Jan 18, 2024 vs MIN W 7-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 07:49
Jan 13, 2024 vs ANA W 5-1 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 07:32
Jan 11, 2024 vs NJD W 4-3 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 05:38
Jan 9, 2024 vs LAK W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 08:26
Jan 4, 2024 @ MIN W 4-1 0 0 0 1 5 0 1 08:27
Jan 2, 2024 @ WPG L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 06:32
Dec 31, 2023 vs MTL W 4-3 1 0 1 1 0 1 4 06:06
Dec 27, 2023 vs FLA L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 07:40
Dec 16, 2023 @ CGY L 2-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 06:24
Dec 7, 2023 @ NSH L 1-5 0 0 0 0 17 0 4 06:48
Dec 6, 2023 vs PIT W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 04:20
Dec 4, 2023 vs DAL W 4-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 08:02
Dec 2, 2023 @ DAL L 1-8 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 09:33
Nov 27, 2023 @ COL L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 06:12
Nov 24, 2023 @ CAR W 8-2 0 0 0 -1 26 0 0 04:01
Nov 22, 2023 vs WPG L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 06:38
Nov 20, 2023 vs BOS W 5-4 (OT) 1 0 1 1 0 2 4 05:22
Nov 18, 2023 vs EDM W 6-4 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 06:46
Nov 16, 2023 @ CHI W 4-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 07:19
Nov 11, 2023 vs CAR L 0-4 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 08:55
Nov 6, 2023 @ TOR L 5-6 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 3 03:30
Nov 4, 2023 @ OTT W 6-4 0 0 0 0 5 3 3 07:01
Oct 17, 2023 @ BUF L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 5 0 2 05:04
Oct 15, 2023 @ OTT L 2-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 08:01