At 18 games into the season, Captain Roman Josi sits at 20 points, tied for seventh among defensemen in the NHL. With over a point per game for the Nashville Predators, he looks to be putting together another Norris caliber season. This fantastic play can be credited in part to Head Coach Andrew Brunette finally finding him a consistent D partner.
In the 2024-25 season, Josi played about 24.7% of his minutes with Brady Skjei, and 21.7% skated with Justin Barron. The next year, 2025-26, he skated 37.4% with Skjei and 19.1% with Nick Perbix, according to Dobber's Frozen Tools. There was a lot of mixing and matching with Josi's pairing, with ice time spread among a few different partners in past seasons. To begin this year, Josi has seen much more consistency in his pairing, skating 57.6% with Adam Wilsby. His next most common partner, Nicholas Hague, has been a healthy scratch in multiple games and has only skated 19.1% with him.
Wilsby ranks fifth on the team in time on ice and has an average of 21:15 in his last five games, which saw his team take all ten possible standings points in that time, making a serious push into the playoff race. Seeing over two extra minutes of ice time per game compared to his career average, his usage has increased this season despite a lot of additions to the defense core, like Jayden Struble, Jack Ahcan, William Trudeau, and Daemon Hunt.
A standout of his game has been his skating. According to NHL Edge Stats, Wilsby ranks in the 98th percentile for his position in both max skating speed and speed bursts over 20 mph. This speed has helped him keep up with some elite competition when being deployed on the top pair with Josi. Getting into the action on offense and making sure he's always back to defend his own end has helped him achieve a tie for team lead in plus-minus with +6.
Call it what you want, but that's Wilsby's first goal of the season! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/O7CDYSUnww
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 11, 2026
Scoring his first goal of the year and just his third of his career, the 26 year old Swede found the back of the net on a bit of a lucky bounce into the empty cage. You don't get that opportunity unless you get the coach's trust to put you out there in the final minutes of a game, though, and with his play recently, Wilsby deserves it.
Moving the puck well has been another noticeable positive in Wilsby's game. Tied for fifth on the Preds in assists with six, he has the primary helper on three. With seven points total, he's scoring 0.39 points per game (up .11 from last year) and has an 84 game played pace of 33 points. Ten points higher than the pace he played at last season.
Finding a solid, consistent partner for Josi has been a struggle the past few seasons. With Wilsby in the fold and coming into his own as a full-time NHLer, the Preds may have finally found that partner the Captain has needed. Rumors continue to swirl that the General Manager Chris MacFarland is out there looking to shake up his D-core, but with recent play on their five-game win streak, the top pair looks to be solidified.
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