The Boston Bruins will continue to explore their internal system for the offensive boost. However, as the NHL Trade Deadline nears, the Bruins might as well exploit the trade market. Would Justin Williams come as a surprising option?
With the Justin Williams option, the Boston Bruins wouldn’t even need to scout the trade market, as Williams is still an unrestricted free agent. Last season, Williams, perhaps, played the last game of his NHL career against the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
In that playoff series last spring, Justin Williams didn’t turn out to be the needed leader for his Carolina Hurricanes. He looked annoyed, engaged in talks with the Bruins players, focusing on every skirmish rather than on hockey. The Bruins swept the Hurricanes and made the Stanley Cup Final last May.
Would Williams return to the NHL to play with the Bruins, after all? Last offseason, Williams didn’t want to re-sign with the Hurricanes, he opted to rather wait and see. The Trade Deadline nears, and Williams has to make his mind up.
As per the reports, if Williams doesn’t ink a new deal to come back to Carolina, Boston, Tampa Bay, and Washington would be interested in his services.
If Williams doesn’t sign with Carolina keep hearing Boston, Washington and perhaps Tampa will try and sign “Mr Game 7”.
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) January 7, 2020
The 38-year-old veteran is certainly not going to break the bank in Boston. Besides, the Bruins don’t have that much salary-cap space left. In fact, they have close to nothing left in the cap space.
Nevertheless, Williams is a pretty consistent goal-scorer. In the last two seasons, he hasn’t missed a single game because of an injury, he collected 51 points in the 2017-18 season and added another 53 points last campaign.
In the past four seasons, Williams recorded 52 points, 48 points, 51 points, and 53 points, respectively. That´s solid. Last spring, Williams had four goals and three assists for seven points in 15 contests. Apart from that infamous series versus the Bruins, he has been really solid for Carolina.
The Bruins would welcome such a presence on the ice. Williams has won three Stanley Cups over his NHL career, adding a stellar 8-1 record in Game 7s. As a right-winger, he might settle down on David Krejci’s right-wing position.
Boston may be concerned only about his age and the fact that he played his last NHL game almost eight months ago, and about the money, of course. However, if the Bruins can make it work, they can offer Williams an A+ chance to pursue the Stanley Cup for the one last time in his career.