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Top 100 NHL Players: 58. Roman Josi - Apr. 17, 2026 - Carol Schram
MARK STREIT WALKED SO that Roman Josi could run – or skate, in this case.
The two defensemen were born 12-and-a-half years apart in the Swiss canton of Bern. In 2005, Streit broke through at 27, becoming his nation’s first blueliner to establish himself as an NHL regular. By the time Josi was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the second round in 2008, Streit had already completed his third season of a 12-year career.
When Josi made his Swiss senior debut at the 2009 World Championship, Streit was captain. Josi followed in his footsteps by wearing the ‘C’ at the 2024 worlds, then at his second Olympics this February.
Switzerland’s fifth-place finish was their best Olympic showing since 1952, but the group came close to competing for a medal. The Swiss were less than two minutes away from eliminating Finland in a quarterfinal. “That was definitely a game that hurt because you were so close,” Josi said.
The Swiss are now a consistent threat. They’ve reached the final at the last two worlds and have finished as runner-up four times in the past 13 years. Josi has appeared in nine of those championships, bringing home silver in 2013, 2018 and 2024.
Streit’s mentorship to Josi also extends off the ice. In 2018, the pair banded together to help co-found the Swiss watch brand Norqain. Sidney Crosby, a teammate of Streit’s during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2017 Cup run, also bought into Norqain last year. “The NHL is a big deal for Norqain,” Josi said. “Looking back to when we started, this is a pretty big milestone for the company.”
The partnership announcement was timed to coincide with November’s Global Series games in Stockholm, which featured the Penguins and Predators, but the hockey gods chose to foil the perfect photo opportunity between the two team captains at center ice of Avicii Arena, as Josi didn’t make the trip due to an upper-body injury.
At 35 and in his 15th season, injuries are bound to happen. But with longevity comes accolades: Josi is Nashville’s longest-serving captain and holds the franchise records for assists and points. In January, he also became the first player to play 1,000 games in Music City. And, not surprisingly, he’s the top-scoring Swiss player in league history.
A tremendous skater with a blistering shot and a relentless motor, Josi won the Norris Trophy in 2020 and has been a finalist three times in the past six years.
Two years ago, Nashville spectacularly rode a franchise-record point streak into the playoffs. Looking back, Josi insists the delicious narrative that the season ignited after the cancellation of a team outing to see U2 at The Sphere in Vegas was much louder externally than it was in the room. “The story was kind of big in the media,” he said. “The media made it a rallying point.”
This year, Nashville rallied from a slow start to make a playoff push once again. And while Josi was the driving force for the team from the back end (playing nearly 25 minutes a night), he has been supported by a pair of Cup-winning veterans in Ryan O’Reilly and Steven Stamkos. “O’Reilly’s been playing like he’s a No. 1 center,” Josi said. “He’s very vocal in the room and just an amazing teammate. ‘Stammer’ is one of those legends of the game, and it’s so much fun being part of him scoring all these goals. He’s also an amazing leader, too. I’m definitely very lucky to have those two guys in the leadership group. It makes my job easy.”
The Predators started the season with a 6-12-4 record, and Josi missed 12 games after his injury in late October, but not long after his return, Nashville began to turn it around. “Our motto has been trying to win two out of three games,” he said. “We’ve done that for a lot of weeks. If you find a way to get points, even if it’s just one point, consistent play helps you climb back into the mix.”
It’s not as sexy as the Sphere story, but it’s working.
