Washington Capitals 2016-17 Season Review: Justin Williams
Justin Williams had a great regular season for the Washington Capitals, but didn’t live up to his reputation in the postseason.
The Washington Capitals have two major free agent forwards. T.J. Oshie is the first, and we’ve already taken a look at him. The second of the free agents is Justin Williams, who is noticeably older than the former.
Williams was signed to a two-year deal during the 2015 offseason to help the Capitals overcome their playoff demons. In many ways, his stay in Washington has been a success. But at the end of the day, as Williams will likely tell you, the team and him each fell short of their goal of winning the Stanley Cup.
All stats, unless otherwise noted, are at even strength. Corsi and goals for numbers are adjusted. Stats courtesy of Hockey Analysis.
2016-17 Stats
Boxcar
| Goals | Assists | Points | PP points | 5v5 points | Plus-minus | Penalty Minutes | Blocked Shots | Hits | TOI per game |
| 24 | 24 | 48 | 10 | 38 | +14 | 50 | 41 | 28 | 15:29 |
Rates
| 5v5 Goals/60 | 5v5 assists/60 | 5v5 primary assists/60 | 5v5 points/60 | 5v5 iCorsi/60 | PP goals/60 | PP assists/60 | PP points/60 |
| 1.14 | 1.12 | 0.41 | 2.24 | 13.56 | 1.48 | 1.48 | 2.97 |
Possession
| CorsiFor% | Rel. CorsiFor60 | Rel. CorsiAgainst60 | Rel. CorsiFor% | GoalsFor% | Rel. GoalsFor60 | Rel. Goals Against60 | Rel. GoalsFor% |
| 53.9 | 2.91 | -3.72 | 3.0 | 59.2 | 0.22 | 0.31 | -2.1 |
The Good
Williams set a career high in even strength goals per 60 minutes. Considering he had merely four points through the first two months of the year, that’s outstanding. Once Williams got going, so did Evgeny Kuznetsov (perhaps it was vice-versa?). As always, Mr. Game 7 proved to be a difference maker in terms of possession.
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The Bad
Considering his reputation as a clutch performer, Williams’ lack of productivity against the Pittsburgh Penguins was rather disappointing. He didn’t come through when the Caps really needed him to, with just three assists in the second round series. More importantly, Williams didn’t do anything in Game 7. His slow start was terrible, but to be fair, he did rebound from it very nicely.
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Future
Williams is a darn good forward. The Capitals should consider keeping him, albeit in a reduced role. However, considering their cap space issues, maybe it’s time Mr. Williams leaves Washington and goes on to another team.