RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes have hired retired captain and three-time Stanley Cup winner Justin Williams as special adviser to the general manager.
“The knowledge that he brings just getting off the ice a short time ago is going to be very valuable for us,” team president and general manager Don Waddell said Friday in a virtual news conference.
Williams said it was “just an opportunity to stay within the game” and that his goal “is really to learn as much as I can” about team operations.
“It’s just something that’s already interests me,” Williams said, adding: “Am I going to be good at rating players, at grading players? I don’t know. So I’m just kind of learning what I need to see in a player because when I went out there, I could just do it. … I’m just going to do my best to learn from the guys that are very, very well-experienced in it.”
The 39-year-old forward announced his retirement in October after 19 NHL seasons and a second stint with Carolina, where he won the Cup for the first time in 2006. He later won the Cup with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in that second run while earning the nickname “Mr. Game 7” for his success in postseason-deciding games.
Williams had 320 goals and 477 assists in 1,264 career regular-season games.