Justin Williams is in the midst of his best season in more than five years, but he told The Hockey News his playing future remains up in the air.

The Carolina Hurricanes captain has 23 goals and 29 assists in 80 games this season. The team is two wins away from making the postseason for the first time since 2008-09 and Williams said he's not looking past the team's playoff push.

“I have no idea what the future holds and I like that,” Williams said. “At the end of the season, whenever that may be, I’ll just decompress and see where life takes me.”

The 37-year-old's 52 points are his most since 2010-11 when he was with the Los Angeles Kings. He's currently playing out the final season of a two-year, $9 million contract signed with the Hurricanes in 2017, returning to the team eight years after being traded to the Kings. He was named captain prior to this season.

“I think he’s the single-most important player we have,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour told The Hockey News of Williams. “We have to have that leadership. We have such a young group that hasn’t been through any of this. You look at the way he prepares, the way he practices, the way he plays. It’s the exact same every day, whether it’s a preseason game or Game 7 of the Stanley Cup. Every team has those guys, kind of, but we have a special one.”

The Hurricanes currently sit in the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with just a one point lead over both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens. Williams said reaching the postseason remains his sole focus.

“It’s nice to hear, but I’m just putting everything I can into this thing this year,” Williams said when told of Brind’Amour's praise. “We all are. With time not being on my side it’s more, I guess, important. I didn’t come here to just dance off into the twilight of my career and not play in the playoffs and not play important games.”

A veteran of 1,242 NHL games, Williams is a three-time Stanley Cup champion and won the Conn Smythe Trophy with the Kings in 2014. He has 312 goals and 785 points over his 18-year career.