Red Wings Ink Williams

The Red Wings took another step towards having a full roster, as they signed veteran forward, Jason Williams, to a 1-year deal on Thursday. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Williams played with Detroit for the better part of six seasons and will now return there for the coming season. He was also slated as the highest ranking available free agent last week, before Nikolai Zherdev hit the market after his arbitration hearing.

In 2009, Williams had 19 goals and 28 assists in 80 games between Atlanta and Columbus, which makes him a quality winger as a late forward in your fantasy teams. His stock should rise, since he'll likely be a top six forward with the Wings this season.

There is no solid salary cap figure at the time of the news release saying that he signed, but the Wings are in decent shape, even after the Patrick Eaves signing earlier in the week. With the Eaves signing, the Wings are now sitting at a hit of $54 million for 20 players. If my estimated cap value for Williams (see the free agent post) is correct at $3 million for the 2010 season, that would put the Wings well over the cap ceiling. I think it could be fair to assume that the Red Wings probably had some good negotiating power to get Williams to take less money to play, which would play right into the hands of the Central Division winners.

The addition of Williams does give the team a little bit more firepower on the wings and it does give the team the potential for another 20-goal scorer, where they have lost a few players of that designation in the off-season. I would almost assume, if he stays healthy, Williams will score upwards of 25 goals, which could make him a very interesting acquisition for your fantasy team.