Scouting the Detroit Red Wings: Jason Williams

Jason Williams

Today's profile: Jason Williams

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 185
Birthdate: August 11, 1980 (29 years old)
Position: Center/Wing
Shoots: Right
Uniform #: N/A
Contract status: Signed through 2009-10
Salary Cap Figure: $1,500,000
Salary in 2009-10: $1,500,000

2008-09

Jason Williams set a career high with seven powerplay goals in 2008-09 and tied his career high in games played (80) and game-winning goals (4), despite being traded from Atlanta to Columbus at the mid-point of the season. At the time of the trade Williams was mired in a slump with just one point in his last eight games with Atlanta, however that changed quickly in Columbus as he scored four points in his first four games with the Blue Jackets. Playing fewer minutes per game with Columbus, Williams was far more effective scoring 29 points in 39 games with the blue Jackets after scoring just 18 points in 41 games with the Thrashers. Williams was far more consistent in Columbus as well never going more than two games without a point.

 Williams is a known player to the Red Wings organization who originally signed him out of junior hockey in 2000. He has also played for coach Mike Babcock for two seasons while in the AHL. Williams was also a member of the Red Wings 2002 Stanley Cup team. So the transition back to Detroit should be an easy one, the team knows what they are getting, and Williams knows the coach, his philosophy and game plan, and he is familiar with the expectations of the organization and the fans. The Red Wings signed Williams to fill the void left by Mikael Samuelsson who signed with Vancouver. Both players scored 19 goals last season and seven on the powerplay, and Williams has played the point on the second powerplay unit previously, just as Samuelsson did for Detroit. One area that Williams will be asked to improve will be his defensive play. Williams has an accurate wrist shot as his career 12.4% shooting accuracy will attest, and combined with Patrick Eaves and Ville Leino on the Red Wings third line, he will be the primary shooter. Eaves will be the defensive conscious and Leino, a capable scorer, will be able to showcase his playmaker skills in this trio.

Be sure to check out the slide show for some action shots of Williams from last season. 

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• Dan Cleary  Pavel Datsyuk  Kris Draper  Patrick Eaves  Jonathan Ericsson  Valtteri Filppula  Johan Franzen  Darren Helm  Tomas Holmstrom  Niklas Kronwall   Brett Lebda   Ville Leino  Nicklas Lidstrom  Andreas Lilja  Kirk Maltby  Derek Meech  Chris Osgood  Brian Rafalski  Brad Stuart  Jason Williams  Henrik Zetterberg