Roman Josi was drafted by the Nashville Predators back in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft as the 38th-overall pick in the same draft that current Predators teammate Steven Stamkos was drafted first overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Now Josi is ready for his 1,000th NHL game as the Predators look to keep their playoff push alive and avoid a three-game losing streak. They'll take on the Ottawa Senators, a wildcard bubble team in the Eastern Conference and in a similar position to the Predators.
Josi will join current Predators' teammates Stamkos and Ryan O'Reilly in the 1,000-game club. What makes this story even better is that Josi is putting together quite the comeback player of the year type of season after dealing with a scary diagnonis referred to as POTS syndrome over the offseason, which put his future in the NHL in question.
However, Josi battled back over the offseason to be ready to return to the Predators as captain once again thanks to his dedication to hockey, an important quality to the NHL's Bill Masterton Trophy for comeback player of the year.
Roman Josi's NHL journey got off to a fast start with the Nashville Predators, and he never looked back
Josi broken into the NHL for the 2011-12 season after playing a couple years for the AHL Milwaukee Admirals and overseas in his native country of Switzerland. His first NHL season saw him stick around consistently for 52 games while sharing the blueline with the likes of Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Ryan Ellis, Hal Gill, Kevin Klein and even briefly a 21-year-old Mattias Ekholm.
At the time Wever was the captain of the Nashville Predators, but one day down the road Josi would take on that honor, and of course still holds that title today as he gets ready for his 1,000th NHL game.
Josi would also get his first taste of Stanley Cup Playoff action in 2012, playing in 10 games but not registering any points. But he showed he belonged at an early stage in his Predators career.
Josi's first launch in his NHL career came in only his third season, going from 18 points to 40 points in 2013-14. That year he saw his goal total go from five to 13 goals, and his ice time go from 23:32 to 26:25. The Predators knew they had something special then in Josi.
Throuhgout the following years, Josi would showcase his unique offensive abilities as a defenseman and become a model of consistencyand All-Star caliber player while beginning to get recognition in the annual Norris Trophy voting for the NHL's best defenseman.
Josi would finally win the Norris Trophy for the 2019-20 season, which was shortened due to the covid pandemic to 69 games. Josi had 65 points and beat out John Carlson and Victor Hedman, respectively.
Josi's most prolific offensive season came two seasons later when he erupted for 96 points in 80 games, while doing a third of his work on the power play with 11 goals and 26 assists. He fell just shy of his second Norris Trophy, getting beat out by Cale Makar.
And now here we are today in January of 2026. Josi is on the doorstep of 200 NHL goals, sitting at 198. If there is a script writer out there, then it would make sense for Josi to score two goals tonight and hit 200 in his 1,000th game.
Among active NHL defensemen, Josi is third in goals with 198, sixth in points with 752, and sixth in assists with 554.
Josi's 752 career points also sits on top of the Predators franchise list, just 32 points ahead of Filip Forsberg. The next-closest active player with the Predators right now to those two is Ryan O'Reilly with 169 points.
Congrats to Roman Josi, The Captain, for his 1,000 NHL games. I think it will be appropriate one day for Josi to get his statue next to Pekka Rinne in the Bridgestone Arena plaza.