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Breaking: The Predators’ Best Current Homegrown Player, Courtesy of…
In collaboration with Upper Deck, The Hockey News will be covering the best active homegrown player for each NHL team. For the Nashville Predators, it’s Roman Josi.
When the Nashville Predators selected Roman Josi at No. 38 overall in the 2008 NHL Draft, they certainly believed he was a special player. Still, hardly anyone could have expected that a second-round defenseman from Bern, Switzerland, would develop into one of the greatest players in franchise history.
Josi made an impact at a young age as one of four 17-year-olds to play in Switzerland’s top division in 2007-08 (for SC Bern) and represented Switzerland at the IIHF World Junior Championship and the IIHF U-18 World Championship in 2007 and 2008.
Roman Josi
Roman Josi’s Value to Predators Cannot Be Overstated
Josi led all Swiss junior-aged players in goals (7), assists (17) and points (24) as SC Bern won the Swiss League title in 2008-09. He was named top defenseman at the 2009 IIHF Division I World Junior Championship, which Switzerland won. The youngest player on the Swiss roster, Josi tied for first among defensemen in goals (3) and ranked second among defensemen in points (4) at the tournament.
Josi helped SC Bern to the regular-season and playoff titles in the Swiss League in 2009-10. He played for Switzerland at the 2010 World Junior Championship and World Championship in 2010.
Josi’s career has shades of retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady – a player drafted much later than one would expect for someone who would go on to become universally recognized as one of the best players at his position in his respective sport.
He had 40 points during his rookie season in North America with the American Hockey League’s Milwaukee Admirals in 2010-11 and led the team with 25 power-play points. He made his NHL debut for Nashville on Nov. 11, 2011 against the Detroit Red Wings, and scored his first NHL goal Dec. 10, 2011, against the Anaheim Ducks.
Fresh off his 13th NHL season with the Predators, Josi is a veteran of 909 career games and sits atop the franchise leaderboards in career points (686), assists (505) and shots (2,690). He also holds the team’s single-season records for points (96), assists (73) and shots (281), all set in 2021-22 – the same season he led all NHL defensemen in scoring.
Josi, a four-time NHL All-Star, won the Norris Trophy in 2020 as the top defenseman in the NHL after scoring 65 points (16 goals, 49 assists) in 69 games. He is the only player in Predators history to win the award.
The 2023-24 season was also a momentous one for Josi, who passed Shea Weber for the most goals by a defenseman in Predators history (167) in a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 20. He became a three-time Norris finalist for the 2023-24 season after he was first in goals (23) and third in points (85) among NHL defensemen. He was first among players at his position in shots on goal (268), second in even-strength points (51), tied for second in game-winning goals (five) and tied for fourth in power-play points (33).
Few NHL players have been more valuable to their teams during their careers than Josi has been to the Predators. Sixteen years later, it’s clear that Nashville got one of the biggest steals in the 2008 NHL Draft.
