Predators Re-Sign Austin Watson to Further Solidify Bottom Six

The Nashville Predators are looking to keep their Stanley Cup window open as long as possible as they locked up another big piece.

Austin Watson is the latest re-signing from GM David Poile as he looks to retain the vital pieces of the Nashville Predators lineup. It’s fair to say that Watson is critical to the bottom six for the long-term and short-term future.

The deal is for three years and $4.5 million, per the Predators website. Many found out about the news during last night’s game against the Calgary Flames, and fittingly enough Watson had himself some kind of night with two goals and two assists.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Watson in Nashville, but the important thing to remember is his teammates have always stood behind him. So has the Predators organization, and this is stone cold proof of that. It’s actually refreshing to see an organization stick behind a player who is looking to grow as a person and be better. Here’s what Poile had to say per the Predators official website:

"“Austin is the ultimate team player and we look forward to continuing to see him thrive and be an impactful member of our team. Austin sticks up for his teammates and does whatever is necessary to help this team win hockey games”"

As for the hockey perspective of it, Watson is so great in his role for the Predators. He battles hard every second on the ice, brings a swagger and scores the dirty goals in the trenches. He’s always good for coming out of nowhere to score some big goals when the top part of the lineup is going cold. Basically he’s an enforcer who brings an element of offense to the equation that many can’t.

Watson is never going to become an offensive juggernaut by any means, but that’s not his role on this team. He plays his role perfectly by logging physical minutes on the ice and occasionally providing a spark of offense. If the Predators are leaning on Watson to carry the load on offense every night, then they have much bigger problems.

I personally love this deal. It’s only for three years, and there’s not much risk in it. Watson is going to remain an important part of the bottom six for the duration of his time in Nashville. He’s also still fairly young at age 27 and could definitely raise his ceiling of production and become an even bigger bargain.

Watson was drafted in 2010 in the first round as the 18th overall pick. Has he lived up to being drafted that high? You can say that he hasn’t, but he’s still been valuable to this organization enough to keep him around for a bargain price. He does the dirty work of blocking shots, putting his body on the line and bruising whoever has the puck on the other side.

Obviously this isn’t going to come without scrutiny from some people. My stance on it is to look at the human element of it. None of us are perfect and everyone deserves a second chance, especially when those who are close to him have been extremely supportive of the situation and the healing that quite frankly is none of our business.

The big remaining unrestricted free agents on the docket for next season are Mikael Granlund, Craig Smith and Rocco Grimaldi. Others include Matt Irwin, Miikka Salomaki, Yannick Weber and Dan Hamhuis. Point being that the Predators are figuring out ways to hold onto critical pieces of their lineup for at least the next few years.