Watson pulls dirty move, fires slapshot directly at Lauzon in final seconds of blowout

In the literal final seconds of tonight's blowout 5-1 win for the hometown Nashville Predators over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning, Lightning forward Austin Watson appeared to purposefully fire a slap shot at Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. The play happened near center ice, well away from the Predators and goaltender Juuse Saros.

To me, it looked like a pretty clear case of 'attempt to injure' on Watson's part.

Check it out for yourself:

That's brutal. Just absolutely brutal. 

The good news is that, while he appeared pretty irate, Lauzon left the ice on his own and appeared to be moving somewhat normally. He didn't appear to be injured and there's been no update from the team just yet.

In any case, that's a dirty play by Watson. Credit to the Predators for going after him in defense of their teammate.

For our earlier report on today's developments in Nashville concerning forward Liam Foudy, read below.

This just in, the Nashville Predators have placed 23 year old forward Liam Foudy on waivers.

From Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman:

The former 1st round pick (18th overall in 2018) has zero goals and three assists in just 12 games so far for the Preds this season. If he clears waivers, he'll be assigned to the Predators' AHL affiliate Milwaukee Admirals.

Interestingly enough, Foudy was claimed off of waivers earlier this season when the Columbus Blue Jackets attempted to demote him to their AHL affiliate Cleveland Monsters. It's safe to say that whichever NHL team ends up with his rights, that he could use some time in the AHL to build his confidence back up. It wasn't long ago that Foudy was seen as one of the top prospects in hockey after the Blue Jackets took him 18th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

The native of Toronto, Ontario had a stellar junior career with the OHL's London Knights and emerged as a star player for the team. His pro career hasn't gone according to plan, however. His best pro season came in 2021-22 with the AHL's Cleveland Monsters where he managed seven goals and 19 points in just 29 games. The following season in 2022-23, he put up his best NHL campaign with seven goals and 14 points in 62 games with the Blue Jackets. It's fair to say that he has not lived up to expectations so far though in his NHL career.

He's done with the Blue Jackets and now it looks like he's done with the Predators. It remains to be seen if he'll be given a third chance at an NHL career with a new team but I wouldn't be surprised if a bottom-feeding team takes a chance on him. Specifically, I'd be looking at the likes of the San Jose Sharks or Chicago Blackhawks to take a flier on the young forward.

It's also worth noting that he has chemistry with Washington Capitals forward Connor McMichael from the pair's time together with the Knights in the OHL. Also... just throwing it out there... Foudy also played with Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard in London, as well. Draw your own conclusions there, folks...