Justin Williams spent Tuesday’s game against the Flyers in street clothes chatting with Tom Dundon his his executive suite. Shortly after the game, the team announced that he had officially been re-signed.
As of three weeks ago
I wrote about this situation in detail in an article on December 18 entitled, “Contemplating Justin Williams”. In tnhat article, I actually leaned slightly negative on a return for Justin Williams. While more leadership is always a positive, my thinking was that largely because of the lessons that Williams helped teach in 2018-19 that the team had successfully moved on. Interestingly though, that article was right after the magnificent 4-0-1 road trip when the Canes were soaring. In that article, I credited Williams with being a quality upgrade to the forward group though my concern there is that if Erik Haula hits another stumbling block that the team might have been better to spend a single addition on a center.
Recent Twitter-size comments
When Williams’ name resurfaced in the past few days, I offered my thoughts on Twitter as follows:
2/? Let's say that @Canes management likes this team and its chances in the playoffs (because it should)…
— Canes and Coffee (@CanesandCoffee) January 2, 2020
4/? If you buy into 1 and 2, I think the most logical add is a forward who can add depth and scoring. If one trusts Haula's health, position maybe is not that important. If one fears Haula injury recurring, I would prefer a center, but regardless a forward add makes sense.
— Canes and Coffee (@CanesandCoffee) January 2, 2020
6/? 3 questions related to that search…If you ignore history (initially) could you really find a better fit than Justin Williams? If so, how hard is it to make the cap math work? How much does it cost…A first-round pick? A second plus…?
— Canes and Coffee (@CanesandCoffee) January 2, 2020
8/? The Erik Haula knee situation makes me nervous and with a preference to wait closer to the trade deadline, but in terms of making a single add (only 1 will fit under salary cap), I increasingly like Williams just as player (leadership aside).
— Canes and Coffee (@CanesandCoffee) January 2, 2020
Netting it out
I stand by my comments that the team did not need/require a Justin Williams return. But at the same time, I think he is an upgrade to the roster with leadership to boot and not insignificantly with zero trade cost.
At the most basic level, Justin Williams is exactly the type of veteran leader with playoff experience that teams legitimately covet this time of year. Lost in the ‘he’s getting older’ and ‘he is not the fastest anymore’ discussions is the fact that he was the team’s third leading scorer for the 2018-19 season. Whatever Williams lacks in foot speed, he makes up for in ability, smarts, a willingness to compete at the top of the crease, etc.
Leadership aside, especially when one considers that the trade cost to add Justin Williams was zero, he is a solid upgrade to the lineup by measures that would be used if instead the Hurricanes looked to make a trade at the trade deadline.
I do think his reintegration is a bit more complicated than a normal trade deadline acquisition, but those who had started to cast Williams as a villain the past few days surprise me. Did he not earn better when he returned to the organization at a point when the team was down (and he likely had better options) and do everything in his power to effect a change that yielded success? So while I do think there is a layer of complexity to the situation, the starting point that Williams is a good guy who was liked by everyone in that locker room is a perfect starting point for that being resolved successfully.
My tentative plan is to go a couple layers deeper on Justin Williams re-signing tomorrow night or sooner if I find the time.
In the meantime, I would love to hear everyone else’s thoughts on the return of Justin Williams.
Go Canes!
Considering that the risk is awfully low (salary of 700K) the return may be a great thing for the Canes.
The top line has gone missing and I am thinking that replacing Nino with JW may actually be a possible answer to that, JW and Aho have a history of success together and Aho needs an adrenaline shot right now.
Also JW helped install the hard forchecking identity that the Canes have failed to reignite, and as the playoff deadline nears and teams tighten up the Canes need to rediscover that identity.
Signing JW is a no-brainer. Although I expect his on-ice contributions to be minimal, there is no doubt that his leadership, experience and presence will help stabilize the team. It’s not like the current Canes are dominating and leading the division. Added depth is almost always a good thing. It seems that an intangible has been missing this year whether it be consistency, grit or knowing when to add a spark. BTW, I believe JW was instrumental in welcoming Nino to the team last year which contributed to his success. Just maybe Nino gets back on track, and maybe Jordan Staal excels with some of the leadership responsibilty removed from his shoulders.
On another note, our best goalie may be playing for the Checkers right now. In the Metro division our team goalie stats are only better than the Flyers and Devils. Our scoring has masked this significant weakness. Ned’s opportunity could be fast approaching.
I think it’s is time for Ned. Mrazek is less then average and Reimer would not have made it on a AHL team with his last game. That was pathetic. Goalie is our weakness, big time. Time for a demotion.
I generally agree with the analysis and would add one other counter-intuitive point: if JW wanted to return to hockey and was going to return to play hockey either in CAR or somewhere else, I’d rather have him on our team in any role at this price than to see him in BOS or WAS or anywhere else for that matter. It’s cheap insurance.
He was a productive player last season and he’s likely to be productive again – he is, after all, a wily veteran. I’m happy to have him back. Now, slotting him in the lineup is another matter and (barring injury) I have no idea who sits when he plays … but I trust RBA to figure that out.
The reality is, after a great western swing, this team seems like it’s floundering a bit and going sideways – maybe because our goaltending and team defense has fallen from it’s ridiculously high level of play? – and maybe we need a jolt of energy and excitement – this just might be the right recipe at the right time.
You said exactly what I was thinking. Very happy he wanted to come back to the canes. He is still a productive player who helps with leadership. Who sits? My votes would be NN, McGinn or maybe even Marty. I could see a rotation for sitting depending on opponent. Toughness and defense matters as well as scoring, so not easy. Even if a little slower, he will prolly produce more then our guys who are not.
https://www.prohockeyrumors.com has a good article on JWs return. Hopefully this jars the team out the mid-season funk so many teams hit in January.
I sit firmly in Missouri on this one.
I actually view it as an experiment.
This is not the equivalent of picking up a veteran at the trade deadline. We signed a player who hasn’t played competitive hockey in 8 months. A lot happens – physically and mentally – in that period of time. Other veteran players over the years have tried to return after sabbaticals – anecdotally how well had those gone??
And in the same vein, sure he wants to play – but has he retained the edge that made him special?, or is this more of a vanity move for him? Time will tell, but this is so different than a rental trade for a player who has been playing all season.
As an experiment, are we in an alchemist’s lab and are about to create gold?, or is it a meth lab and we are about to blow up the place?? 😀
Just “show me”.
The good news is, it will not take long to test, and if it does not work, it costs us little.
While a few meth labs have exploded, no alchemists have ever created gold. His return will be a real test of our ability to set realistic expectations; which should be neither disaster or January parade planning. (Can we be satisfied if his return simply puts some polish on a run for silver?) From an overall viewpoint the risk/reward curve looks favorable for his return. The cost is just the dollars of a prorated entry level deal (mere pocket change for Dundon), and the playing time of our least effective winger (.3 points/game). Frankly, our playoff hopes rest on more on an improvement in overall goal tending and a defensive improvement against an aggressive forecheck than the addition of a top 9 forward. Can we get Tim Gleason back too?
This signing looks very positive for me, for the reasons listed plus:
– Willy is universally respected for his character. He would only come back if he was ready.
– Perhaps no one knows Willy better than RBA. The management group would only have him back if he was ready.
Svech is ready. Willy is ready. #takewarning
Willy is all in, or not. He made his decision. We are not going to see pedestrian effort. Maybe it will not translate, but we are not going to see half effort.