Nashville can look forward to another promising season from - and thanks to - the Predators captain.
Nashville Predators captain Roman Josi had quite a season in 2021-2022. Josi was voted to the All Star game in February, named the NHL's first star of the month in March, and broke the Predators record for career assists while recording his best numbers in goals (23), assists (73), and points (96) in his eleven year tenure in Nashville.
As one of the best - if not the best - two way defenders in the league, Josi earned the respect of the league and his peers with his performance. His season ended by being named a Norris Trophy finalist (Josi finished second to Colorado's Cale Makar) and a Ted Lindsay Award finalist.
It would be a big ask for Josi to repeat such a high level performance in 2022-2023.
He very well may do it. Josi is set up for success again this season.
[gallery ids="3521"]
The moves the Predators made this offseason to bolster both the offense and defense will benefit Josi as he pursues another standout season. The captain didn't just sit by and hope for beneficial offseason moves. Josi deserves credit for helping connect a key offensive acquisition with the franchise.
Josi was instrumental in helping bring fellow Swiss free agent forward Nino Niederreiter to Nashville in the offseason. Niederreiter was rumored to have a deal with Anaheim all but wrapped up when Josi reached out about a potential match with Nashville. Within 12 hours, Niederreiter had signed with the Predators.
Niederreiter and Josi share a long hockey history together, playing for the Swiss team in World Juniors and together at the World Championships multiple times. The relationship the two have had and the potential of the team as as sold by Josi were reasons Niederreiter signed with Nashville.
The Niederreiter signing holds a lot of promise for the Predators, and Josi may be a beneficiary of this on the ice as well. Niederreiter spent time on a top line in Carolina previously but this past season was a third line fixture who not only added depth scoring but was also consistently tasked with shutting down the opponent's top lines. Adding a player with a strong two way game benefits Josi and the entire defense next season.
One of the struggles down the stretch for the Predators last season was defensive depth. While the development of young Alexandre Carrier was a pleasant surprise - Carrier finished tenth on Calder voting and tied Josi in defensive point shares in '21-'22 - Nashville came up short of having the fully reliable d corps necessary for deep playoff contenders in the league.
Josi spent much of his season paired with Dante Fabbro, who, despite battling upper body injuries and missing sixteen games, recorded his best stats so far in his young career. It remains to be seen whether Fabbro will be Josi's partner on the top pairing this season. If head coach John Hynes decides to mix it up, the options for Josi all have a tremendous upside especially with McDonaugh on the roster.
[gallery ids="3522"]
Josi will have more records to chase in '22-'23 for the Predators franchise. He trails David Legwand's points record by just 24 points. If Josi remains true to form - and there is no reason to think he can't - he could easily reach that mark by Christmas.
Statistics aside, this is going to be a special season for #59. Josi and the Predators will spend part of the preseason in his hometown of Bern, Switzerland for an exhibition game against SC Bern on October 3. While the travel to Bern and then on to Prague, Czech Republic for the season openers may make for a tiring start to '22-'23, the experience with his teammates in his hometown may be just the thing to kick off early standout play from Josi once again.