Who Should the Ottawa Senators Protect? Austin Watson or Evgenii Dadonov
By Daniel Bruce
Why Protect Watson
I don’t know if you will meet a tougher player in the NHL today, Watson is one of the most fearless players in the league and would never back down from fighting an intimidating combatant or diving headfirst to block a shot, the latter almost ended in disaster.
“He’s the ultimate, ultimate warrior,” -Brady Tkachuk
Watson took a shot nearly off the windpipe after diving headfirst at an opponent’s slapshot and I’m sure he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again, that’s just the way he is. Players and coaches continuously rave about Watson and everything he brings to the team, future captain Brady Tkachuk described what exactly the fearless forward does for the team:
"“To have a guy that’s willing to put his body on the line for us every single night and give it his all every single game is so energetic for the rest of us”"
Watson, who played two seasons under D.J. Smith with the Windsor Spitfires from 2008-2010 had extremely high praise for the gritty veteran:
"“Those are the guys you win with. That’s a great guy [general manager] Pierre [Dorion] brought in to show guys how hard you have to play to win hockey games.”"
For all Watson does good, his on-ice play is never going to warrant him being any more than a fourth-liner and with more Senators prospects expected to make the jump next season, keeping Watson starts to make less sense. Signed for another two years, carrying a cap hit of $1.5 million annually, his contract won’t be a breaking point for the team.
The 29-year-old native of Ann Arbor, Michigan spent consistent time in his own end this season with a poor CF% of 44.53% which ranked third-worst on the team. If you spend most of the game in your own end, you won’t win, and the Senators shouldn’t be keeping players around that can’t escape their own zone. With Alex Formenton and Shane Pinto becoming key penalty-killers at seasons end, Watson isn’t needed for the penalty kill either. For all the small things Watson does well, he doesn’t do enough as an on-ice player to warrant his protection over a more than capable NHL player in Evgenii Dadonov.