Introduction
Austin Watson (born January 13, 1992) is an American ice hockey centre who is currently playing for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected 18th overall by the Predators in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
Early life
Austin Watson was born January 13, 1992, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he grew up with his father and mother, Mike and Mary Watson. He is the oldest of ten children, nine boys and one girl. He went to school one year at Detroit Catholic Central High School, and one year at Father Gabriel Richard High School before he was drafted into the OHL, where he attended St. Anne's High School, and after being traded to Peterborough, finishing high school there. Watson played for the high school golf team at Father Gabriel Richard, where they went to state finals.
Playing career
Junior
Before the OHL, Watson played all of his early hockey with the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors, whose home arena is Compuware Arena. While playing for the Ambassadors, Watson received early exposure to OHL hockey, as Compuware Arena is also home to the Plymouth Whalers.
At first, Watson did not show interest in the OHL, and verbally committed to the University of Maine Black Bears, planning on playing for the US U-17 team. Because of his plans to play college, although he was projected to go second overall in the OHL draft, he ended up going 36th overall. Because the U-17 delayed on giving him a spot, Watson decided to forgo his verbal commitment to Maine and play with the Windsor Spitfires.
Although it was a gamble, the Spitfires took a chance and drafted Watson. Their bet paid off. Watson came into the OHL with a bang, surprising people with his fast skating and smart playing. Despite the fact that Watson hit a slump mid-season, he came out with 10 goals and 19 assists, for a total of 29 points. During playoffs, after a total of 20 games played, he snatched up 3 more points in the form of assists. While Watson had a remarkable rookie season, he accompanied the Spitfires to becoming the most elite in the league, the CHL Memorial Cup champions, at the same time breaking the record and becoming the first team to ever come back for an overall win from fourth place in the finals. Also, it was the first Spitfires franchise win of the Memorial Cup.
On January 11, 2010, the Spitfires traded Watson to the Peterborough Petes. The trade was smart for him career-wise as he now receives a chance at more playing time on this younger team. Watson played in the 2010 CHL Top Prospects game for Team Cherry, and played well, as he, among other things, broke up a 5-on-3 penalty kill, though unfortunately broke his ankle blocking a second shot and could not play for a month with the Petes.
While playing with the Spitfires, Watson was projected to go 25th according to the International Scouting Service(ISS) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, but after an advantageous trade to the Petes, he jumped in rank 11 places and was ranked 14th in April, where the NHL Central Scouting Final Ranks place him. According to the ISS he ranks 12th. Watson was drafted 18th overall by the Nashville Predators.
On January 9, 2012, Watson was traded to the London Knights.
International play
Watson was selected to play for the USA national team for the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Despite the fact that the US did not win, Watson played well. He tied the US record for the most points in a single game.
He was selected to play for the U.S. National team, Watson played with them to win the gold medal ultimately, even though he was ejected from the game 5 minutes in for a boarding call.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2008–09 | Windsor Spitfires | OHL | 63 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 41 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | ||
| 2009–10 | Windsor Spitfires | OHL | 42 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009–10 | Peterborough Petes | OHL | 10 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2010–11 | Peterborough Petes | OHL | 68 | 34 | 34 | 68 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010–11 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Peterborough Petes | OHL | 32 | 14 | 19 | 33 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011–12 | London Knights | OHL | 29 | 11 | 24 | 35 | 14 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 10 | ||
| 2012–13 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 72 | 20 | 17 | 37 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2013–14 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 76 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 2014–15 | Milwaukee Admirals | AHL | 76 | 26 | 18 | 44 | 34 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2015–16 | Nashville Predators | NHL | 57 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 63 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | United States | WJC18 |  | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 33 | |
| 2012 | United States | WJC | 7th | 6 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 13 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 33 | ||||
Awards and honors
| Award | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| Wayne Gretzky 99 Award - OHL Playoff MVP | 2011–12 | |
| CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team | 2012 |
- Won the J. Ross Robertson Cup with the London Knights in 2012.
- OHL Wayne Gretzky 99 Award 2012 Playoff MVP. 1st American to ever win it.
- OHL Academic Player of the Month of the West Division for the month of December 2008.
- Won the J. Ross Robertson Cup with the Windsor Spitfires in 2009.
- Won the Memorial Cup with the Windsor Spitfires in 2009.
- Memorial Cup All-Star Teams
- "OHL announces academic players of the month". OHL Official Website. Archived from the original on 2009-02-25.