Red Wings Reassign Austin Watson, Justin Holl

The Red Wings have returned veterans Austin Watson and Justin Holl to AHL Grand Rapids, the team announced today. They now have a pair of open roster spots and over $2.5MM in projected cap space, per PuckPedia.

It was an extremely short stint on the NHL roster for Watson, who was just recalled yesterday. The 32-year-old enforcer made his Detroit debut in last night’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers, posting a -1 rating, a minor penalty, and two hits in just 4:54 of ice time. The veteran of over 500 NHL games attended Red Wings training camp on a PTO and landed a two-way contract as a result, but landed on waivers and began the season in Grand Rapids after going unclaimed. He had just two goals and four points in 33 games for the Lightning last year, all career-lows for him as a full-timer.

Watson was off to a strong start with the Griffins before the recall in what was his first AHL action since a brief conditioning stint in March of 2019. In two games, he had three assists and a +3 rating for Detroit’s top minor-league affiliate with 7 PIMs. The recall ended up shaving just one day and one game played off his 30-day/10-game waiver exemption, so it’ll still be a while before the Wings need to pass Watson through waivers again to return him to the minors.

Holl getting the boot stands out as more surprising. He and his bloated $3.4MM cap hit ended up on waivers and subsequently in Grand Rapids to begin the season, but he was recalled after Jeff Petry sustained an upper-body injury in the season opener. Holl was thrust into a top-four role as a result, responding with an assist, a +1 rating, and strong advanced possession metrics while averaging 18:38 per game. For a Detroit team that’s struggled to control play at 5-on-5 and has averaged 32.67 shots against per game thus far this season, Holl’s numbers stand out in a positive way.

Nonetheless, it’s back to the farm for him, where he could now be slated to see his first minor-league action since 2018. His reassignment suggests Petry is close to ready, if not completely ready, to return, while Watson’s demotion suggests the same for winger Christian Fischer, who’s day-to-day with an upper-body injury.