The Washington Capitals have brought back another Hershey Bear. This time, it’s defenseman Colby Williams.
Colby Williams has spent the last three seasons with the Hershey Bears, helping to anchor a blue line that has steadily improved. On the heels of losing Aaron Ness to free agency, the Washington Capitals inked the 24-year old defenseman to a one-year, two-way deal worth $700,000 ($90,000 AHL).
Williams was drafted in the sixth round at 173rd overall by the Capitals in the 2015 NHL Draft. At the time of his draft selection, Williams was coming off his third full season (fifth overall) as a member of the WHL’s Regina Pats. 2014-15 was his best season. Williams scored a career-high 11 goals and 30 assists for 41 points in 64 games, including 95 penalty minutes and a +/- of +45.
Williams spent one more season with the Regina Pats in 2015-16 and was named team captain. He recorded 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 19 games, missing a significant portion of the season due to an injury. Williams’ WHL career ended with 104 points (25 goals, 79 assists) in 211 games.
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Williams headed to the Hershey Bears in the 2016-17 season and has called Hershey his home since. He made his AHL debut on October 22, 2016 against Bridgeport and notched an assist for his first AHL point. Williams scored his first AHL goal in dramatic fashion in overtime in the Bears 3-2 win at Springfield on November 4, 2016.
Williams finished his first year playing in 60 games, notching four goals and 12 assists for 16 points including a +15. He also added a goal in the playoffs appearing in three Calder Cup playoff games. Williams won the Jack Gingrich Award as Hershey’s Rookie of the Year.
Williams followed that up with recording 17 points (3 goals, 14 assists) in 69 games while adding 94 penalty minutes in 2017-18. His best game was in Hershey’s road contest at Lehigh Valley on October 7, 2017. Williams notched two assists, his first multi-assist game of his AHL career.
In 2018-19, Williams found himself as the odd man out of the lineup as a healthy scratch at more times than he’d like. He played in just 36 games and notched 10 assists. When he was in the lineup, Williams was usually placed at the third pairing next to either Tobias Geisser or Lucas Johansen.
Now that Williams is back within the Capitals organization for at least one more season, he looks for a much better year in Hershey. If he gets a chance to get penciled in the lineup more often, the Bears defense could be at strength despite losing Aaron Ness to free agency or even Jonas Siegenthaler to the big club in Washington.
Anticipate Williams on the third pair next to Lucas Johansen, another player looking to get back on track this upcoming season.