Waived: Austin Watson

[nomorekids]

Called this a few days ago, the writing has been on the wall for a while.

Hard to call the 18th overall pick a "bust," but he certainly didn't pan out, for supposedly being a very safe pick. The good news is that most of us wanted to draft Emerson Etem at that pick, and he hasn't fared any better.

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[Agalloch]

I would offer you Mike Condon (G, same salary 575k one way) for Watson if he passes through waivers without being claimed.

 

[Preds Partisan]

In the end, all I'll ever remember about him is he has nine brothers and sisters. And I learned that on the day he was drafted.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Air craft carrier. Tough to say if he gets picked up or not. I'm leaning towards not.

 

[nomorekids]

Air craft carrier. Tough to say if he gets picked up or not. I'm leaning towards not.

better players have already made it through without being picked. I would be shocked.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Wasn't a fan of the pick then and certainly not now. Good luck. Hopefully he gets a shot at the show.

 

[Zippy316]

I could see the Devils claiming him if Hynes/Shero likes him.

Our RW depth is pretty bad and we are very low on right-handed shots throughout our line-up. Right now our RWs are Palmieri, Smith-Pelley, and Bennett, with a lefty in Kalinin likely to play the right side. Our only other right-handed forward in the line-up is Zajac and Lappin is the only other close-to-NHL ready player who is right-handed.

 

[NSH615]

The cuts came so frequently that I'm now confused, which isn't hard to do. And the roster on the Preds web site isn't current(you'd think that wouldn't be difficult to do). Somehow I get 13 forwards, 7 Ds and 2 goalies. That's one short but I can't figure it out. That's after the Watson waiver. I think I'm missing a forward but not sure. I've got:
Johansen
Neal
Fiala

Ribeiro
Forsberg
Smith

Fisher
Wilson
Arvidsson

Sissons
Solamaki
Jarnkrok
Bass

Maybe it's Granberg but that would be 8 Dmen. I know I read they sent him down but he's still around.
Oh, well, I'm confused.

Here is the updated roster when it was at 26 on Tuesday.

https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/assets/binary/282379662/binary-file/file.xlsx

And unless it happened today, Granberg wasn't sent down, neither has Watson. They were just waived to be able to be sent down.

at Forward, you are missing: Frederick Gaudreau and Vladislav Kamenev

 

[NSH615]

Thanks. I dropped Granberg and Watson from my list with their waiver announcements(although I know they can be recalled if claimed, etc.). I also read somewhere that Kamanev was sent down. So, from my list I guess I'm thinking Gaudreau is who I'm missing from my list. Is he still around?

Unless Kamanev was cut today, he hasn't been cut yet. He and Gaudreau were with the team last night at the team Go-Kart Outing.

 

[Drake744]

It appears as if PK does not skip leg day.

 

[MrJoshua]

It appears as if PK does not skip leg day.

You need insanely strong legs to have the kind of edgework he displays.

 

[Gnashville]

Here is the updated roster when it was at 26 on Tuesday.

https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/assets/binary/282379662/binary-file/file.xlsx

And unless it happened today, Granberg wasn't sent down, neither has Watson. They were just waived to be able to be sent down.

at Forward, you are missing: Frederick Gaudreau and Vladislav Kamenev

Did Girard get sent down? I was hoping he would get a few games before being sent back to juniors

 

[sparkle twin]

Wow, I thought that was just some teenaged worker in front there. Then after looking at it for a minute I realized, OH, that's Mike Ribeiro!

 

[NSH615]

Did Girard get sent down? I was hoping he would get a few games before being sent back to juniors

He was cut on Tuesday.

 

[nomorekids]

Cleared, not surprisingly

 

[BigFatCat999]

Watson and Kamenev sent to Milwaukee per NHL ap

 

[PredsV82]

I guess this is a case of a guy drafted to play Trotz hockey not fitting on Lavys team. Hope he gets a shot with Vegas or somebody

 

[nomorekids]

I guess this is a case of a guy drafted to play Trotz hockey not fitting on Lavys team. Hope he gets a shot with Vegas or somebody

He was never considered a top 6 prospect, he was a high character, Mike Fisher type. I don't think it's a system issue, it's more an issue that he's not good enough defensively to make up for his lack of offensive ability. I don't see him as an NHL player, and it's probably safe to call him a bust, as much as an 18th overall pick can be a bust

 

[Hockeyfever]

I guess this is a case of a guy drafted to play Trotz hockey not fitting on Lavys team. Hope he gets a shot with Vegas or somebody

I think it is a systems issue. As a tweet from the Admirals stated this evening Watson is only the 3rd Admiral to score 20 or more goals in each of his first three years since the Admirals joined the AHL. Also according to the Admirals press release he is fourth in goals at 68 during that time since the Admirals joined the AHL.

So somehow when he joined the Preds he can't score all of a sudden. Sounds like a systems and role issue to me.

 

[NSH615]

I think it is a systems issue. As a tweet from the Admirals stated this evening Watson is only the 3rd Admiral to score 20 or more goals in each of his first three years since the Admirals joined the AHL. Also according to the Admirals press release he is fourth in goals at 68 during that time since the Admirals joined the AHL.

So somehow when he joined the Preds he can't score all of a sudden. Sounds like a systems and role issue to me.

Or he's one of those who can do great in the minors but not in the big leagues.

 

[Price is Wright]

If he's 6'4" or taller and played for the Windsor Spitfires, best to avoid (Watson, Nemiez, Brown)

 

[triggrman]

How many prospects do we have playing 3 full seasons in Milwaukee?

 

[adsfan]

How many prospects do we have playing 3 full seasons in Milwaukee?

Beck, Blum (one split season he played 48 games in Milwaukee), Mike Santorelli (he played a split season with 57 MKE games), Cal O'Reilly.

Mike Latta played 2 seasons.

 

[Pred303]

Beck, Blum (one split season he played 48 games in Milwaukee), Mike Santorelli (he played a split season with 57 MKE games), Cal O'Reilly.

Mike Latta played 2 seasons.

which sort of bears out what trig was making a point of. if a guy plays two or more full seasons in Milwaukee, they rarely ever make a successful jump to the NHL, at least to our starting lineup.

 

[nomorekids]

which sort of bears out what trig was making a point of. if a guy plays two or more full seasons in Milwaukee, they rarely ever make a successful jump to the NHL, at least to our starting lineup.

The funny thing is, for the examples listed, there was at least some level of consternation when each was let go. When Taylor Beck was traded for a no-name facepuncher because he wanted a one-way contract (he's now on his fourth team since then, and has cleared waivers several times). When Cal O'Reilly was lost "for nothing!" on waivers, or best of all, "I'm glad we were able to get a prospect like Forsberg for Erat, but I hate that we had to include Michael Latta."

It just goes to show that as fans, sometimes we can over-value our own unproven assets. There may be a time in the season that there's a slightly higher chance for Watson to get claimed -- when a team is floundering and isn't happy with the options it has in its own deck, but in training camp, every team has spent the summer building a projected roster, and every team has 2 or 3 Austin Watsons. There's a reason that waiver claims are so uncommon at this time of year-- in fact, we just had our first one on Saturday.