Nashville Predators: Roman Josi Reaches Mammoth 8-Year Contract Extension

At long last, the Nashville Predators and Roman Josi have reached a huge contract extension to keep him in Nashville for the long-term future.

After keeping us on edge for a while now, Roman Josi and the Nashville Predators have reached a deal on an eight-year contract extension worth over $9 million of an average annual salary, per Sportsnet.

This was a high priority over the offseason for the Nashville Predators organization, but nothing was able to materialize. Other big moves were made, like acquiring Matt Duchene, but Josi’s new deal was unable to get done.

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When you break down this deal, Josi’s exact total in the new deal is worth $72.472 million. His annual salary of over $9 million will put him as third-highest paid defenseman starting in 2020, only behind Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson.  Josi was only at $4 million for this year, which is tied for 86th among defensemen.

Great consistency and reliability is a big reason for Josi deserving this massive deal. He’s logged 40-plus points for six-straight seasons, and 50-plus points in four of the last six. Most would argue that he’s the best offensive defenseman in the league.

Josi is off to another great start to this season with 13 points in 11 games and a solid Corsi percentage of 58.3, well-above his career average of 50.3. He certainly hasn’t let us looming contract extension affect his play. He’s went out and shown everyone that Nashville would be crazy to not get this done quickly.

A lesson on loyalty

This should keep Josi in Nashville through 2027-28, and keep Nashville’s defensive core strong at the top. They keep their captain who has been a great role model and outstanding in the community. He’s an excellent face for the franchise on the national level, and is primed to eventually win a Norris Trophy.

Josi obviously wanted to stay with the Predators for the long-term. This wasn’t close to a similar situation of when Shea Weber was here, and eventually traded away for P.K. Subban. Josi is a Predator for life, and it’s awesome to see the franchise hold onto one of their all-time greats. Check out this great quote from Josi per Brooks Bratten:

Before the season started I said that Josi will come closer than ever to winning his first Norris Trophy. I feel more confident that ever about that feeling. Now he can really just focus on the team and not have this in the back of his mind. This is loyalty at its core from both the player’s perspective and the organization’s perspective. Both sides comes out huge winners.

It’s a day to celebrate for Nashville Predators fans. Now let’s cap this day off with a win over the Chicago Blackhawks tonight.