Confirmed with Link: Justin Williams Stepping Away

[Anton Dubinchuk]

The wording makes me think my inexplicable gut feeling is correct - he’s going to Niedermayer us and come back in like January.

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[A Star is Burns]

Regardless, at this point, thanks for everything Justin. Hope we see you soon! If not, it's been fun.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

So (potentially) he's our deadline acquisition. Thanks for your leadership the last couple of years, Justin!

 

[Svechhammer]

I have it on very good authority he will be back this season

 

[Chrispy]

He will have some job with the canes this season. My prediction:

Tripp and Williams in the booth when Forslund is on a national game. And Canes fans everywhere wonder what on Earth is going on in the game.

 

[Sens]

Dundon just does not want to pay him a full season

 

[bleedgreen]

At his age I’m not sure how great a mid season acquisition he will be. Based on Mackenzie saying he has teams interested there’s no reason to assume it’s even our mid season acquisition.

This will be an interesting start to the season. He won’t be coming to us if we aren’t very good I would think, though I won’t care then regardless.

If you don’t want to play a full year don’t play.

 

[A Star is Burns]

So, have him announce his return via Storm Surge at some point?

 

[AD Skinner]

So, have him announce his return via Storm Surge at some point?

Bah gawd that's Justin Williams's music!

 

[tarheelhockey]

This feels weird.

 

[cptjeff]

So he's probably pulling a Mike Fisher. Thanks for all your work here regardless Justin! Hope to have you back, if not, please stick around and don't just spend all your time poolside.

 

[vorbis]

good for him. it'd be cool if he were to join the team at some point this season, and if that's the case, then this decision is clearly the best way to get the most out of Justin Williams the hockey player. if not, then it's been a great run and he leaves nothing on the ice.

 

[Ole Gil]

It's a bummer, at the same time, excited for the opportunities this will open up for some of the kids. Foegele and Necas in particular won't be pushed down/out of the lineup now, I don't think.

Nieds-Aho-Svech
Foegele-Staal-TT
Dzingel-Haula-Necas
Martinook-Wallmark-McGinn
Manaleinen

With Martinook and Mcginn more than capably stepping in should Necas or Foegele struggle.

 

[AD Skinner]

This is definitely worded in such a way that leaves him open to come back. I'd go so far as to say it sounds like he expects to come back

 

[AeroFishOne]

This feels weird.

Yeah it does. For me I’d rather just have a yes or no decision. Don’t think it’s anything to do with the team or management but I’d rather just have some finality.

 

[Ole Gil]

I wonder if it was a compromise. Justin says "I'm done. The grind is too much at my age" Rod says "Hey, why don't you see how you feel 3 months into the season. Stay in shape, and if the situation is right, you can jump in."

In pro sports, where the regular season is such a grind, and injury almost gets inevitable for guys at his age, the half-season strategy would be a pretty good idea.

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

Welp, I'm not surprised but I still have no idea what to think of it. I guess he doesn't want to retire, but can't bear the thought of another 6-month marathon with anywhere from zero to eight weeks of sprinting after that.

I wonder how we're going to handle the captaincy. One foot in and one foot out makes it really awkward to give it to somebody else, but it's also awkward to hold it for a guy who's not actually suiting up.

 

[Lempo]

Welp, I'm not surprised but I still have no idea what to think of it. I guess he doesn't want to retire, but can't bear the thought of another 6-month marathon with anywhere from zero to eight weeks of sprinting after that.

I wonder how we're going to handle the captaincy. One foot in and one foot out makes it really awkward to give it to somebody else, but it's also awkward to hold it for a guy who's not actually suiting up.

We'll handle it like he was retired. No other option.

 

[Unsustainable]

Hitting the feels

 

[Navin R Slavin]

If he comes back, he's an extra captain. Great.

But now it's time to pick a captain. Pick a good one.

 

[Ole Gil]

If he comes back, he's an extra captain. Great.

But now it's time to pick a captain. Pick a good one.

3 Captains for the stretch run!

 

[Unsustainable]

If he comes back, he's an extra captain. Great.

But now it's time to pick a captain. Pick a good one.

Slavin
Staal
Aho

 

[CandyCanes]

Dang. His leadership is going to be missed. Was so hoping he’d come back and bring back the Storm Surge again. Don’t know if the Surge can happen again without Justin. But if last year was his last, he ended on a dang impressive note. Last season was easily one of the best seasons ever to enjoy as a Canes fan, Williams being a huge part of that. So thankful for the memories he brought and created last season for us.

I wonder how much the Boston series affected him and the the overall toll of playing a full season + 3 rounds of playoffs. He was getting visibly frustrated on the ice during the conference finals, something we didn’t really see much of during the regular season, just didn’t look right at the near end.

 

[Dishface]

Thanks for everything Willie if this is really it. Next week they will announce Melatonin signing. They have to keep the trend of news every week.

 

[GoldiFox]

Sad but not unexpected. Release is worded to insinuate a mid-season addition which makes sense from a $$ standpoint. Williams could make his same $2-3 million playing only half the year and the Canes won't have to sacrifice Cap next year (which I always doubted GMBC was interested in).

Canes are relying on growth from the youth to push the team forward. Benefit of having the youngest team in the league. On paper arguably every position group is now worse than the end of last year.