Will Canes bring back Stanley Cup champ Justin Williams as free agent?

The Carolina Hurricanes haven’t been very active in NHL free agency the past few years – not since the aftermath of the Alexander Semin fiasco.

General manager Ron Francis did not say Friday if that would change when free agency begins at noon Saturday, or as Francis put it, “When the gates are open.” But he did mention a name Canes fans know and a player they would love to have back: Justin Williams.

The veteran forward, an unrestricted free agent, was a big part of the Hurricanes’ run to the Stanley Cup in 2006. That was his first. Williams later was a part of two other Cup championship teams with the Los Angeles Kings – the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the 2014 playoffs – before signing with the Washington Capitals in July 2015.

If not re-signed by the Caps by Saturday, he’s back on the market.

General managers are allowed to make contact with unrestricted free agents leading up to July 1, and Francis said the Canes have been in contact with Williams and others.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations this week with different guys who are available,” Francis said Friday.

One free agent that Francis did not talk to was one of his former teammates with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the early 1990s – 45-year-old forward Jaromir Jagr. But, like Williams, there are other veteran forwards who will be available: Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Martin Hanzal, Scott Hartnell and others.

Canes assistant coach Rod Brind’Amour, the captain of the 2006 champs, said Friday he had been “pushing hard” to bring back Williams, who at age 35 has played 1,080 games. In two seasons with the Caps, Williams had 22 goals and 52 points in 2015-16, then 24 and 48 points this past season, remaining productive.

Williams’ salary the past two years: $3.25 million. He may be able to get that again as a free agent, and the Canes aren’t the only team after him.

“I love the guy,” Brind’Amour said. ”You look at what he brings to your team. He’s not going to get us 30 (goals) or 80 points. But what he could do for us in the locker room is what we need. He would be a great addition if we could get him.”

Salary cap not an issue

The Canes have no salary-cap issues, other than needing to spend about $6 million to reach the NHL’s salary-cap “floor” of $55.4 million for the 2017-18 season. With a projected cap hit of $49.4 million, according to CapFriendly.com, the Canes have about $25.6 million in total cap space.

“We’re comfortable with where we are and when the season starts we’ll be fine in that regard,” Francis said.

The Canes opened up even more cap space Thursday night with the trade of goalie Eddie Lack and defenseman Ryan Murphy to the Calgary Flames. The Canes retained $1.375 million of Lack’s salary for 2017-18 and the Flames absorbed Murphy’s $787,500 cap hit.

The Flames on Friday then bought out Murphy’s contract, making him an unrestricted free agent Saturday.

After trading for goalie Scott Darling from the Chicago Blackhawks, then signing him to a four-year deal, the Canes had Darling, Cam Ward and Lack. As Francis said, “We had three goaltenders and that obviously doesn’t work.”

Francis had hoped to pull off some trades last weekend at the NHL Entry Draft, using draft picks but possibly including Lack in a deal. That didn’t work out, but Calgary agreed on a trade.

“It’s a good opportunity for him,” Francis said. “It didn’t work out as well as probably as both sides had hoped here.”

The same was true for Murphy, the Canes’ first-round draft pick in 2011 whose lack of size and defensive liabilities kept him from sticking with the big team. Murphy was bypassed by other, younger, better defensive prospects – Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Noah Hanifin – who played their way into the lineup and stayed there.

“He came in with high expectations but over the years some of the kids we drafted got in front of him,” Francis said. “He’s still a young player and deserved a chance to resurrect his career somewhere else.”

Avoiding free-agent mistakes

Under former general manager Jim Rutherford, the Canes made flashy free-agent signings in 2011 and 2012 that both eventually backfired. Defenseman Tomas Kaberle was signed for three years and $12.75 million in 2011, and then Semin for one year and $7 million the next year.

Rutherford quickly traded Kaberle but elected in March 2013 to sign Semin to a five-year extension at $7 million a year. On July 1, 2015, the Canes bought out the remainder of Semin’s contract for $14 million and still have four years left – at $2.33 million a year – to pay the Russian forward.

Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. was not happy about the Semin buyout and has praised Francis for his fiscal choices as GM. Karmanos also is in the process of selling the team or part of the team, but Francis said Saturday that Karmanos would provide whatever financial resources were needed to bring in the right players.

“Pete has been fantastic,” Francis said. “I’ve run different scenarios by him and some of them are certainly not cheap options. Every time I’ve talked to Pete he’s said, ‘If you think it makes our team better you’ve got my blessing, go ahead and do it.’ That has not been an issue this summer.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2017 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Will Canes bring back Stanley Cup champ Justin Williams as free agent?."