Roman Josi came to the Nashville Predators during the 2011-12 season and made his NHL debut on November 26, 2011. He joined a rising playoff contender that already featured Pekka Rinne, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Mike Fisher.
As a former second-round pick by Nashville in 2008, Josi has been the driving force behind the franchise becoming a perennial playoff team up until this past season.
Josi suffered what was later revealed as a head injury and concussion after taking a brutal hit from Sam Bennett of the Florida Panthers on February 25. The injury kept him to only 53 games played this season, his lowest season total excluding the pandemic shortened season dating back to 2012-13.
So what's next for Josi? With the Predators coming in with so much hype surrounding their offseason free agency haul, it was thought that Josi had more in the tank as a Norris Trophy contender. He finished second in the voting the previous year after putting up 85 points.
Josi saw a decline in offense like the rest of the Predators did, but showed positive results in other areas
Josi's point efficiency dropped from 2.5 point per 60 to 1.7 in his 53 games this season. However, Josi did track well in his underlying analytics, like his Expected Goals Per 60 which led all NHL defensemen at 0.61 (per MoneyPuck).
Coming back from a head injury is scary stuff. Josi told The Tennessean just recently that he'll be ready for the 2025-26 season when it gets here and that he's "progressing well".
Josi has an unfortunate history with concussions, which obviously raises the concern level that it's a lingering issue. Head injuries are never something to take lightly, and with Josi's advance age as he's about to turn 35, it makes me a skeptic as to how much longer he'll be able to keep playing at a high level.
The Predators have a loaded defensive corps for 2025-26, not so much in the sense of loaded with talent, but just loaded with bodies. There will be a lot of friendly roster competition to find out which defensemen makes the Predators lineup out of training camp.
Who will take the top pairing role with Josi in 2025-26?
A major question I have is who will be paired with Josi next season. He had eight different linemates paired up with him this past season. The Predators saw 15 different defensemen suit up and log ice time, and I would call it a mixed bag of results but mostly there was just chemistry issues and a lot of stretches of defensive breakdowns. That's to be expected when you you shifting so many guys in and out, while also missing your captain for over a quarter of the season.
Three starting defensemen finished the season on injured reserve for the Predators; Josi, Adam Wilsby and Jeremy Lauzon. Josi logged minimal ice time with both Wilsby and Lauzon as linemates, so it seems unlikely it's one of them.
Justin Barron was acquired in the trade that sent Alexandre Carrier to the Montreal Canadiens. For me to ever come around and think that was a wise trade by Barry Trotz, Barron has to emerge as the linemate for Josi. That's a tall order to ask for, but Josi did play more minutes with Barron as a linemate than any other Predators defenseman in 2024-25.
The Predators are very thin at right shot defenseman. Barron plays on the right side, as does Nick Blankenburg. Lauzon can also switch sides, and Josi could be moved to the right side, although that is not ideal.
This is why Trotz has indicated that he wants to find a right shot defenseman maybe in free agency this offseason. Unless you're making a huge splash for Aaron Ekblad, I don't see any top pairing defensemen on the right side that's not already at an advanced age just like Josi is.
The organization is probably really hoping that Barron can take an enormous leap forward in his progression. There are some positive results we can pull from the Josi/Barron combo that played 228 minutes together. They managed 11.2 Expected Goals, which is third among all Predators defensive pairings.
Defensively, Josi and Barron weren't too bad, either. They surrendered just 2.23 Expected Goals Against Per 60 minutes.
Until we see the Predators add a more established free agent from the outside, I'm thinking Josi will be paired with Barron in 2025-26. Can Josi find another year in him to play Norris Trophy level hockey, and can Barron raise his level of play to be on the top pairing? I have my doubts, unfortunately.
I do think Josi can remain a decent point getter for a couple more years. I can see him remaining among some of the top defensemen in the NHL when it comes to producing scoring chances for his teammates and piling up a lot of assists. His power play presence should stay pretty strong as well.
Josi had 15 power play assists this past season. If he could have played the full season, he could have easily finished with 20-plus power play assists and come at least close to his career high in that category which is 26 power play assists in 2021-22.
It's not the end for Josi, but it's getting close to time to pass the torch over
So I wouldn't call it the end for Josi by any means. He's got a couple years left in the tank of high offensive production, but will he be able to avoid being a liability in the defensive zone is the question I don't have the answer to. Will his offense be enough to offset his defensive liability as he gets a step slower with age and is going up against the elite offensive teams in the NHL?
The Predators absolutely have to have on the top of their priority list how they are going to arrange their defensive corps for 2025-26 and who plays with Josi. If they don't have faith in Barron to take that role, then they're in a lot of trouble to find someone.
If you're looking for help from the prospect pool, there is Ryan Ufko who made his NHL debut towards the end. Could Ufko make a big enough impression this offseason to play with Josi and get taken under Josi's wing in the next generation of Predators defensemen? Possibly, and that would be an outstanding development if Ufko can prove he's ready for that.
Tanner Molendyk is arguably the top prospect in the Predators system, but he plays on the left side and probably needs a solid year of AHL hockey with the Milwaukee Admirals before being thrust into everyday NHL action.
Here's my way-too-early projection for the Predators starting defense in 2025-26: