Williams ready to get started with revamped Hurricanes

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Justin Williams is used to long springs and short summers. That's what happens when you win the Stanley Cup three times in 17 NHL seasons, and reach at least the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs seven times.

Going four months without playing a game is a foreign notion for the 36-year-old Carolina Hurricanes forward, which is why he signed up to play in the Checking For Charity tournament at Flyers Skate Zone this weekend.
"I've been off since mid-April, so I'm ready to go," he said.
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The Hurricanes finished sixth in the Metropolitan Division last season, 14 points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. It was the ninth straight season the Hurricanes missed the postseason, leading to several changes throughout the organization, among them the departures of coach Bill Peters, forwards Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm and Derek Ryan, defenseman Noah Hanifin and goaltender Cam Ward.
Though Williams was disappointed to see some friends leave, he said the scope of the changes wasn't surprising.
"When you don't win for an extended period of time, something's not working and management has addressed that," Williams said. "You can't keep doing the same thing over and over and not have results. It's a results league, and the Carolina Hurricanes haven't been getting any. And we're trying to switch things up."
One major switch was the promotion of Rod Brind'Amour to coach after seven seasons as an assistant.
Williams and Brind'Amour were teammates with the Hurricanes from 2003-09 and won the Stanley Cup together in 2006. They resumed their working relationship when Williams signed a two-year contract with the Hurricanes on July 1, 2017.

"We have a good relationship. We'll continue to have a good relationship," Williams said. "I've talked with Rod quite a bit over the summer. He'll bounce some things off me and maybe I can be his ears (in the locker room) and help out as best I can."
Brind'Amour's experience as an NHL player and assistant makes him an easy person for players to listen to and respect.
"He's excited for the opportunity," Williams said. "We want to do right by him and we want to do right by the management team that's kept us here and really become a relevant team again."
Some of that relevance will come from a defense corps that could be among the best in the NHL. Dougie Hamilton, who was acquired with forward Micheal Ferland in a trade with the Calgary Flames for Lindholm, Hanifin and defenseman prospect Adam Fox on June 23, scored 17 goals last season, tied with Ivan Provorov of the Philadelphia Flyers and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the NHL lead among defensemen. He's also one of nine NHL defensemen with four consecutive 40-point seasons.

They also signed Calvin de Haan to a four-year contract and will work the two new defensemen into a group that includes Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin, Justin Faulk, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Haydn Fleury and top prospect Jake Bean.
"That's a top-tier [defense] corps in the NHL," Williams said. "I think as a forward you have to be excited when someone like that is going to give you the puck."
Another change could be coming with the captaincy. Faulk and Jordan Staal were co-captains last season; however, Brind'Amour said shortly after being hired that he wanted the Hurricanes to have one captain and he had that player in mind.
Williams could be an option for that role but said he hasn't spent time thinking about it.
"We'll address that when it comes," he said. "I don't know when they're going to do anything, before training camp, during training camp, before the season, I don't know. They might not do anything. I know from last year my role in the organization, and that's all you really need as a player."