Top 10 LA Kings Forwards of All-Time

By Jeff Duarte
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Updated: November 9, 2017

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9 – Justin Williams – 2009 to 2015

(photo credit to kings.nhl.com)

Coming to the Kings via a trade from Carolina, Williams already had a Stanley Cup ring and the experience it brings with him, but the man is later fondly known as Mr. Game 7, (well at least for us and Carolina), had a tough going with his first few seasons in LA due to injuries. Lots and lots of injuries. To the point that Kings’ fans were wondering if he was made of glass, but little did we all know how truly valuable this player was, and how valuable he would become. Williams got injured again, this time it was his (separated?) shoulder in a victory against the Calgary Flames in March of 2011. He was to take 3-4 weeks off to heal up, but once the playoffs started, and the Kings having lost their young star Anze Kopitar for the rest of the entire playoffs thanks to a broken ankle, Williams sucked in the pain and went to work. The Kings lost that series against the San Jose Sharks in 6 games but the real Justin Williams was now standing up. In the 2012 Playoffs, Williams was paired up with Kopitar and Dustin Brown for the top line and they raised some hell. Even though Williams didn’t get a lot of points, he sure did get the points when it mattered and helped out, more importantly he had become a vocal leader for the young team in the locker room, so much so that it was revealed after the Kings had won their first Stanley Cup in game 6 against the New Jersey Devils, that Williams had stood up and said a motivating and heartfelt speech to his teammates, that had inspired them so much, that they all went out there foaming from the mouth and won the game and the Stanley Cup with a 6-1 final score! (Hell, even Matt Greene got a goal in that game!). Williams was clutch when it counted the most and as an inspiring leader for the team, he became even more predominant in the next few years, helping lead the Kings to win the Stanley Cup a second time in 2014, and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as that playoff’s MVP. Oh, and he ended up having this amazing stat of having played seven playoff game 7’s, with a record of 7 wins and 0 losses, plus 7 goals and 7 assists for 14 game seven career points! (Btw, his 14 points in those game 7 represents his #14 jersey number! I know right? Like WHAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?) Now he is forever dubbed as “Mr. Game 7,” (well except in Washington of course). Like I previously mentioned, Williams isn’t going to score a lot of points, but he’ll score when it’s most needed but that isn’t the main reason why he’s ranked in this top 10 list. It’s because he was a winner in every way, as he refused to lose and then helped teach his teammates to hate losing as well. And when they didn’t listen, he showed them how winning was done! He also was a 7th degree Black Belt in Puck Possession. That helps too.