Red Wings Austin Watson Mercifully Sent Down

Austin Watson (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)

It’s a big game of musical chairs…on ice.

AHL promotions and demotions happen all year long.

The Detroit Red Wings are demoting Austin Watson, a bruising forward. This demotion is good for two different reasons.

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In Saturday's win over the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings forward Austin Watson had five times as many minutes in penalties (15) as he did on the ice (3:06), but the six-foot-four, 238-pound winger made his presence felt in the form of an early fight that helped energize the Red Wings in the opening minutes.

thehockeynews.comDoes Austin Watson Have a Future with the Red Wings?In Saturday's win over the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings forward Austin Watson had five times as many minutes in penalties (15) as he did on the ice (3:06), but the six-foot-four, 238-pound winger made his presence felt in the form of an early fight that helped energize the Red Wings in the opening minutes.

For starters, it means that Elmer Soderblom is all but confirmed to play Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Secondly, it means that Watson can play somewhere where he will actually play.

It’s not that the Red Wings haven’t gotten what they need from him. Unfortunately, head coach Todd McLellan doesn’t seem keen on utilizing him all that much. But, at this point in the season, every win is crucial, and McLellan needs to ice the best team every single night.

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In eight games, he only averaged 6:10 of time on ice per game. Here are the ice times for all eight games he’s played with the Red Wings this season: 4:54, 9:06, 8:53, 6:07, 9:34, 3:34, 3:06, and 4:03.

Yeah, I’d say it’s a good thing he was sent down.

Watson has had a solid AHL season in 2024-25. He has 16 goals and 37 points in 56 games. Although he was never truly given a chance at the NHL level, he still managed to score two goals.

Additionally, he’s been able to bring more physicality to the Grand Rapids Griffins than the Red Wings. Watson has partaken in 11 fights this season, 10 of which have been in the AHL.

Soderblom brings more skill to the Red Wings and will give the squad a big boost to continue pursuing an Eastern Conference Wild Card position.

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