A first look at…Williams

By a fairly significant margin, you selected Justin Williams as the Kings’ first-line right wing.

Since the beginning of this blog, perhaps no single incident sparked more discussion than the O’Sullivan/Williams trade (although Juraj Mikus is getting close). That’s two-pronged. One, O’Sullivan seemed to be a polarizing figure for fans and two, the trade was arguably the most significant in Dean Lombardi’s tenure, as he traded one potential top-six winger for another.

It’s not a stretch to say that Williams is the single most important player to the Kings’ success or failure this season, based on one simple evaluation. What was the Kings’ biggest problem last season? Scoring goals. If Williams does end up being the first-line right wing — and I think that’s a good assumption — who is he going to be? Will he be the two-time 30-goal scorer, or the guy who played a combined 81 games in the past two seasons? If it’s the former, the playoffs start to seem much more realistic.

By all accounts, Williams is healthy and ready to go. Those looking for another point of optimism can look at Michal Handzus, who was mostly dreadful in 2007-08, his first year back after ACL surgery, then mostly fantastic in 2008-09. Players typically take a big step forward in their second season back after ACL surgery, and Williams will be in that position this coming season.

What do you think? Will Williams be the answer to the Kings’ offensive woes?

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