Austin Watson powering up draft boards 
Austin Watson was only doing what Austin Watson does. Midway through the third period of the Jan. 20 CHL prospects game in Windsor, Ontario, Team Cherry, up by a goal, took two straight penalties and went down five men to three. On the bench, Watson's former teammate Taylor Hall begged Cherry's assistant coach Brian Kilrea to put Watson out for the kill. "I told Killer, you might not know this guy, but he blocks shots like nobody's business," Hall said after the game. "He's the best shot-blocker in the OHL, maybe the CHL. He's fearless."
Watson blocked a pair of shots on the penalty kill, one of which hit him squarely on the left ankle, breaking it at the joint. Team Cherry won the game, 4-2, but Watson's bum wheel would require surgery and he'd miss a month. It was a rough break for kid in his draft year who had recently waived a no-trade clause to be shipped from the defending Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires to the Peterborough Petes. "Waiving that no-trade clause was the hardest thing I've had to do in my hockey career," Watson says. "I loved it in Windsor, but from a hockey standpoint, Peterborough was going to give me a great opportunity to play a larger role in the team's success, and I had to take that opportunity to prove I can be one of those players."
To read about Austin Watson's wild year both before and after the broken ankle and how he projects for the 2010 draft, you must be an ESPN Insider.
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Grant Sonier
Grant Sonier has scouted for six NHL organizations over the past 13 years, most recently for the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2010-11 season. He is a special contributor to ESPN Insider.
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Victoria Matiash
Victoria Matiash has served as a Fantasy Hockey columnist for ESPN.com since 2007, and contributor to NHL Rumor Central since 2010. She lives in Toronto.
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