Austin Watson

**Austin Watson** (born on January 13, 1992 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an American professional ice hockey forward who is currently playing for the Nashville Predators of the NHL.

He was selected 18th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

## Playing Career

### Junior

As a youth, Austin played in the 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Detroit Compuware Ambassadors minor ice hockey team.

He 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, Austin 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, as Watson surprised people with his fast skating and smart play.

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. It was also the first Spitfires franchise win of the Memorial Cup.

On January 11, 2010, the Spitfires traded Austin to the Peterborough Petes. The trade was to his benefit, as he received a chance at more playing time on this younger team.
He 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 he unfortunately broke his ankle blocking a second shot and missed a month with the Petes.

While playing with the Spitfires, Austin was projected to go 25th according to the International Scouting Service(ISS) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

However, after an advantageous trade to the Petes, he jumped in rank to 14th in April, where the NHL Central Scouting Final Ranks placed him. According to the ISS, he ranked 12th.

Austin was drafted 18th overall by the Nashville Predators. On January 9, 2012, he was traded to the London Knights.

### Professional

Austin began playing professionally during the 2012-13 AHL season, where he scored 37 points in 72 games for the Milwaukee Admirals. He also appeared in 6 games for the Predators, where he scored his first career NHL goal on April 23, 2013.

He became a regular in the Predators lineup during the 2015-16 NHL season, suiting up in 57 games.

The following year, he skated in 77 games, scoring 17 points. He also recorded 4 goals and 9 points in 22 playoffs games, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history. The Predators ultimately fell in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

On July 24, 2017, the Predators re-signed Austin to a three-year, $3.3 million contract worth $1.1 million annually. He received his first NHL two-game suspension for boarding Colorado Avalanche forward Dominic Toninato on November 18, 2017.

On January 29, 2019, he was suspended indefinitely after an alcohol related relapse.

## International Play

Austin was selected to play for the USA national under-18 select team for the 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. Despite the fact that the US did not win, he played well, tying the US record for most points in a single game.

Watson was selected to play for the US national team at the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships. Even though the US team ultimately won the gold medal, he was ejected from the championship game five minutes in for a boarding call.

## Personal Life

Austin was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan to Mike and Mary Watson. He is the oldest of 10 children (nine boys and one girl).

He attended Detroit Catholic Central High School and Father Gabriel Richard High School for a year before he was drafted into the OHL where he attended St. Anne's High School after being traded to Peterborough, completing high school there.

Austin played for the high school golf team at Father Gabriel Richard, where they went to state finals.

### Domestic violence arrest

On June 16, 2018, Austin was arrested in Franklin, Tennessee, on a misdemeanour charge of domestic assault. According to the police report, an officer was flagged down after a witness reported seeing him "swat" his girlfriend, Jenn Guardino and prevent her from leaving the couple's SUV at a gas station.

According to the police report, at the time of the incident, Austin and Jenn were arguing about her drinking and not being able to attend a wedding. Austin admitted to pushing Guardino and the officer noted red marks on her chest.

Jenn denied that Austin had touched her, but later changed her statement and told police that he was responsible for the marks on her chest. She told police that he at times "gets handsy" and pleaded with officers not to press charges, fearing damage to his NHL career; the specifics of the "gets handsy" statement were not clarified in the police report.

Austin was subsequently charged with suspicion of domestic assault. The police report also noted that Jenn became "extremely upset" when Austin was taken into custody. On July 24, 2018, he pleaded no contest to the domestic assault charge. He was sentenced to one-year probation and ordered to complete a 26-week batterer intervention course.

Violating his probation could earn Austin up to a year in jail time. As a result of his charge, he was suspended by the NHL from all 2018–19 preseason games and 27 regular season games. After appealing his suspension to an independent arbitrator, his suspension was reduced to 18 games.

On October 13, 2018, Jenn issued a statement in which she took full blame for the incident, claiming that it was not an act of domestic violence and that Austin would never hit or abuse her. She attributed the incident entirely to her own drinking problem.

In the public statement, Jenn apologized to everyone involved, including the Predators and the city of Nashville, and thanked Watson for his support. The statement read in part: "My behaviour and state of intoxication lead to the police being involved that day. I have struggled with alcoholism for many years and I am actively involved in AA. I am fortunate to have Austin's continued support with my treatment. We handled matters poorly on June 16th and know that we need to make better decisions going forward."