Playing career

Junior

Williams grew up in Cobourg, Ontario, and played minor hockey in nearby Port Hope of the OMHA before gaining a reputation as a skilled playmaker with the Cobourg Cougars of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League in 1997-98. His favourite players growing up were Sergei Fedorov and Wayne Gretzky.

Williams was drafted in the sixth round, 125th overall, by the Plymouth Whalers in the 1998 OHL Priority Selection. Williams was signed as a 16-year-old by the Whalers and split time between the OHL club and their affiliate Compuware Jr. A. club (NAHL) in the 1998-99 season. He finished his Juniors hockey with two seasons played for the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League.

Professional

Philadelphia Flyers

Williams was drafted in the first round, 28th overall, by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. In four seasons played with the Flyers, however, Williams struggled to live up to expectations, as he tried to adapt to the varying systems of three separate coaches - Craig Ramsay (2000), Bill Barber (2000-2002) and Ken Hitchcock (2002-2006). Williams was also frequently injured, perhaps hampering his development. He broke his left hand in his rookie season (hit by David Tanabe of the Carolina Hurricanes) and had various sprains and strains in his sophomore year. Williams also suffered a left knee injury on January 18, 2003, when he was hit low by the Tampa Bay Lightning's Brad Lukowich. The hit tore Williams' anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL), and, on January 23, 2003, he had surgery to repair the ligaments. Originally projected to miss four to eight months recovering from the injury, Williams made it back into Philadelphia's lineup in just three months.

Carolina Hurricanes

Williams was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on January 20, 2004, in exchange for defenceman Danny Markov. During the NHL lockout in 2004-05, he went overseas to play for Luleå HF of the Swedish Elitserien, where he posted 14 goals and 18 assists in 49 games.

Williams was signed to a one-year deal with the Hurricanes for the 2005-06 season, when he set career highs in games played (82), goals (31), assists (45), points (76) and penalty minutes (60).

In the 2006 Eastern Conference Quarter-finals, Williams injured Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu in the eye without being penalized in Game 3, for which he was villainized in some Canadian newspapers and by many Canadiens fans. In spite of the severity the injury caused by Williams' high-stick, which severely threatened Koivu's eyesight and forced him out of play for the remainder of the year, the NHL did not suspend Williams for his errant action, allowing him to continue participating in the playoffs.

Williams scored the final goal of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, an empty net goal at 18:59 of the third period of Game 7. A loose puck along the boards ended up on the stick of Bret Hedican, who passed it to Eric Staal. Seeing Williams open, Staal threw the puck down the ice to him. Williams skated down the ice and tapped the puck into the open net, sealing the Hurricanes' first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The Hurricanes went on to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 and won the series 4-3.

On July 1, 2006, Williams signed a five-year deal with the Hurricanes, worth $3.5 million per season.

In 2006-07, Williams recorded career highs in goals (33), penalty minutes (73), power play goals (12) and game-winning goals (8). It was Williams' second consecutive season of 82 games played. Williams made his first appearance in an NHL All-Star game at the 2007 NHL All-Star game in Dallas, recording a goal and an assist. Williams also played for Team Canada in the World Championships, winning his second gold medal.

Williams was off to a good start for his 2007-08 season, with 30 points in 36 games (9 goals, 21 assists), before his season ended. On December 20, 2007, during the first period of a game with the Florida Panthers, Williams suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee after a hit by Rostislav Olesz. Williams underwent successful surgery for the torn ligaments on December 26, 2007, and returned on April 1, 2008, only to leave the game with an unrelated back injury.

On September 17, 2008, Williams was thought to be sidelined for four-to-six months when he tore his right Achilles tendon in an off-ice, pre-season workout. Williams underwent surgery for the injury the following day, on September 18. Williams again surprised fans and analysts, however, when he returned from his injury on December 4, 2008, more than a month earlier than his earliest projected return date. He was greeted by round of applause on his first shift by the Raleigh, North Carolina, crowd, and played his first full NHL game in nearly 11 months. He played 32 games before he was again injured, this time by a teammate's slap shot, which broke his left hand.

Los Angeles Kings

On March 5, 2009, Williams was traded by the Hurricanes to the Los Angeles Kings for Patrick O'Sullivan and the Calgary Flames' second round draft pick.

On February 28, 2011, Williams signed a four-year, $14.6 million extension with the Los Angeles Kings. He scored 15 points in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, helping the Kings win their first NHL title.

During the 2012-13 season, Williams scored 11 goals with 22 assists, as the Kings would ultimately lose to the eventual Stanley Cup champions Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Finals of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Williams won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs, where he won his third Stanley Cup and second with the Kings. He scored nine goals and 15 assists during the playoffs, including the game-winning goal in Game 1 the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals against the New York Rangers, and the Kings' first in the 3-2 comeback in Game 5 to win the Cup. Williams also had points in all three Game 7 matches the Kings had on the path to the Finals.

Washington Capitals

On July 1, 2015, Williams signed as a free agent to a two-year $6.25m contract with the Washington Capitals.

Personal life

Williams married his fiance, Kelly, on August 12, 2006. The couple have a son together, Jaxon (born 2008), and a daughter, Jade (born 2011). They bought a house in Ventnor, New Jersey, in 2009.

Williams' granduncle Zellio Toppazzini was a professional ice hockey player who played 123 games in the NHL with the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks. Williams is the grandnephew of Jerry Toppazzini, who was a Canadian ice hockey forward who played 12 seasons in the NHL, most notably for the Boston Bruins.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1998-99	Compuware Ambassadors	NAHL		9	4	2	6	23		—	—	—	—	—
1998-99	Plymouth Whalers	OHL		47	4	8	12	28		7	1	2	3	0
1999-00	Plymouth Whalers	OHL		68	37	46	83	46		23	14	16	30	10
2000-01	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		63	12	13	25	22		—	—	—	—	—
2001-02	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		75	17	23	40	32		5	0	0	0	4
2002-03	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		41	8	16	24	22		12	1	5	6	8
2003-04	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		47	6	20	26	32		—	—	—	—	—
2003-04	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		32	5	13	18	32		—	—	—	—	—
2004-05	Luleå HF	SEL		49	14	18	32	61		4	0	1	1	29
2005-06	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		82	31	45	76	60		25	7	11	18	34
2006-07	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		82	33	34	67	73		—	—	—	—	—
2007-08	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		37	9	21	30	43		—	—	—	—	—
2008-09	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		32	3	7	10	9		—	—	—	—	—
2008-09	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		12	1	3	4	8		—	—	—	—	—
2009-10	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		49	10	19	29	39		3	0	1	1	2
2010-11	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		73	22	35	57	59		6	3	1	4	2
2011-12	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		82	22	37	59	44		20	4	11	15	12
2012-13	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		48	11	22	33	22		18	6	3	9	8
2013-14	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		82	19	24	43	48		26	9	16	25	35
2014-15	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		81	18	23	41	29		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				918	227	355	582	574		105	30	48	78	105

International

Medal record
Competitor for Canada
Men's ice hockey
World Championships
	2004 Prague
	2007 Moscow

Year	Team	Event	Result		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2002	Canada	WC	6th		5	0	3	3	6
2004	Canada	WC	01 !		9	0	0	0	4
2007	Canada	WC	01 !		9	1	2	3	16
Senior totals					23	1	5	6	26

Awards and honours

NHL

Award	Year(s)
3x Stanley Cup champion	2006 (Carolina Hurricanes); 2012, 2014 (Los Angeles Kings)
Conn Smythe Trophy	2014

[ Source: Wikipedia ]