After a strong season in 1999-00 with the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL, Justin Williams was drafted in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. That fall, he was a full-time member of the NHL squad. Born in Cobourg, Ontario on October 4, 1981, Williams scored his first NHL goal in his very first NHL game. That season as a rookie, Williams finished with 25 points in spite of suffering a broken hand partway through the season. In 2001-02, Williams increased his point total, collecting 40, and won the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy as the most improved Flyer.



Injuries limited the talented young forward to a mere 41 games during the 2002-03 season. After tallying 26 points in his first 47 games in 2003-04, Williams was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes, after the Flyers had lost two defensemen to injury and needed to fill in the holes on the blue line, thus acquiring Danny Markov from Carolina. On the international stage, Williams represented Canada at the 2002 World Championships and helped capture gold at the 2004 Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.