Pete DeBoer, then the Plymouth Whalers GM and head coach, wasn’t expecting much out of the player his team selected 125th overall, in Round 6 of the 1998 OHL draft.
A “skinny and awkward kid” named Justin Williams wasn’t getting attention to begin with at 16 years old, drafted out of his hometown Cobourg Cougars. But when he got to Plymouth, his disposition stunned DeBoer.
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“Nothing was handed to him — he came from a time when nothing was given to people and players weren’t pampered,” DeBoer told The Athletic in a phone interview months ago. “And still his competitiveness stuck out. He was out there pissing veterans off. He’d put the team on his back with overtime goals in elimination games.”
DeBoer couldn’t have known for sure that the skinny, awkward kid who scored the most goals and points in the 1999-2000 OHL playoffs would maintain that postseason reputation for decades.
But there was just something about Williams that made you think he could.
It’s the same something that made DeBoer laugh when asked if Williams would return to the NHL after his summer of uncertainty.
“He’s still way too good,” he said.
It didn’t matter that Williams was going on 38 with a laundry list of unique accomplishments ranging from tangible to abstract: three Stanley Cups, one revived Raleigh hockey market, an outright record for most Game 7 points in NHL history, a nickname he rolls his eyes at, among so many more.
If — and only if — Williams feels he’s able to give everything he’s got, then render a list of accomplishments irrelevant.
He’s going to play the game he loves, and he’s going to do it for his team.
Oh, and he’s still way too good.
Williams never really went away. He’s been around the Hurricanes all season, whether it was skating “on his own” at familiar facilities, coaching his son, Jax, on the Junior Hurricanes or popping into Tom Dundon’s suite at actual Hurricanes games.
He’s been around, and on Jan. 7, 2020, he decided he’s able to give it everything he’s got at least one more time.
After my report a few hours prior that Williams would return to the Hurricanes within the day, and his hometown paper’s confirmation via Pete Fisher, the Hurricanes made it official.
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The Canes announced they signed Williams to a one-year deal for the remainder of the 2019-20 season. The deal pays Williams a base salary of $700,000, with the opportunity to earn an additional $1.3 million in potential bonuses based on individual and team play in the regular season and playoffs.
“There’s no adjustment because we know what he is,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “He’s been here, he’s a Hurricane. I don’t think there’ll be any adjustment. … It would be an adjustment for him to just got back up to speed. That’s the whole thing — he’s been out a long time. But like I said many times, we’d obviously welcome him back. This would be a huge addition for us.”
There has been a lot of noise around Williams’ impending decision these past few weeks.
Here’s what I can confirm:
- The Bruins and the Leafs, neither strangers to Games 7, reached out regarding a potential deal for Williams. There could be others.
- Williams had always wanted to get a deal done with the Hurricanes. But I could’ve screamed that from the mountaintops every single day since I knew and people wouldn’t have believed me since it’s the Hurricanes, so whatever.
- It turns out deals involving 35-and-older players and limited cap space are complicated and take some time.
- The Hurricanes are psyched to have back the captain who led them to the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
“There’s so much he brings to this dressing room, we talked about that a lot last year, and you know it as well,” Warren Foegele told The Athletic.“He works so hard on the ice. It would be great to add more depth to the lineup.”
Perhaps the specific bonus incentives could look like Corey Perry’s, which you can find on CapFriendly.com:
“BONUS DETAILS: Games Played Bonus: $250,000 at each of the following levels (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 games). Playoff Qualification Bonus: $250,000 (club qualifies for playoffs & player played in 50 regular season games). Playoff Bonus: $100,000 (club wins three rounds and player played in 50 percent of playoff games). Stanley Cup Bonus: $150,000 (club wins the Stanley Cup and player played in 50 percent of playoff games).”
Williams, Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon and Hurricanes President/GM Don Waddell will speak to the media Wednesday at noon. There are so many questions, some with tough answers. For now, just enjoy the warm fuzzies.
(Photo of Justin Williams: Bruce Kluckhohn / NHLI via Getty Images)
