The Carolina Hurricanes have been quiet this off season. The one big signing was the return of Justin Williams to Raleigh as a free agent.
Williams iced with the Canes in 2006 when they won their Stanley Cup and he returns 
with two additional Cups, both with the Los Angeles Kings, under his belt.
“Well, there’s a lot of emotions,” Williams said of returning to Carolina. “It’s hard to describe every one of them, but I think excitement is one of the big ones. Certainly, once we were getting close to a deal, there was a smile on my face and my wife’s face, and we’re excited for the opportunity and I’m certainly excited with the opportunity to work with a coaching staff that I’m pretty familiar with and a team that I feel is trending up in the right direction, for sure.”
Williams’ contract is valued at $4.5 million per year for the two years.
Carolina also signed forward Josh Jooris to a one-year deal valued at $775,000.
“Josh is a versatile player who can play in the middle or on the wing,” Canes general manager Ron Francis said on NHL.com. “He’s hard-working and competitive, and gives us more flexibility with our group of forwards.”
Other signings have been with American Hockey League level players with one-year and two-year deals signed with two-way contracts to the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL.
“We’re comfortable with the changes we made and think it gives us a better chance to accomplish what we want to do, and that’s get in the playoffs,” Francis said on NHL.com.
Much of what Francis and Hurricanes have done this off season was predicated on some late season moves including the acquisition of goaltender Scott Darling from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Darling signed a four-year, $16.6 million deal with the Canes.
Trades also brought Trevor van Riemsdyk and Marcus Kruger to the club so Francis may be stand pat for the remainder of the off season and wait to see how the campaign breaks before tinkering further.
“We’re still kicking tires and talking to teams on things,” Francis said on NHL.com. “But if there’s nothing we feel makes sense at this point we’re comfortable with what we’ve done and starting the season with what we have.”
Carolina had an up and down season in 2016-17 but a late surge that included a 13-game point streak put the club in contention late before a fizzle at the end.
As Francis said on NHL.com, a 13-game stretch is nothing to write home about, it needs to be an 82-game stretch.
Can the Carolina Hurricanes get out of the gate quickly and play consistent hockey this coming season?
Francis has his veteran leadership with Williams but could one more veteran with proven skills make a bigger difference?
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