Roman Josi is part of a stellar list of defensemen developed in Nashville.
He did one thing the others couldn’t, however. He won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the best defenseman in the NHL for the 2019-2020 season.
Big names who preceded him, like Kimmo Timonen, and others who are current or former teammates like Shea Weber, Seth Jones, Ryan Ellis, and Mattias Ekholm have all been considered top end defensemen in the game.
None have reached Josi’s rarified air, however, and seeing how he dominated as a virtual one man show in Nashville last season, it was easy to conclude he should win the award over John Carlson.
It is pretty easy to argue that the Preds would have been nowhere near a playoff spot without Josi.
He put the team on his back in a way you don’t often see from the defensive position. His defensive game was solid and offensively he was a dynamo.
The Swiss defenseman finished 2019-2020 with 65 points in 69 games. He scored a career high 16 goals, and the point total was also a career high despite the COVID shortened season.
You’re not really going to see a Roman Josi with a ton of wear. This one follows that theme to a “t”.
The right sleeve has a couple of faint marks and burns below the elbow and another mark above that led to a photomatch or three. The left sleeve has a bit of wear and roughed up/scuffed threading, as well as a 2” or so repair that’s been matched to a few games.
The front body of the sweater is pretty clean with the exception of a 3” or so stick mark just above the navy piping around the waist. It is so faint that I’ve only been able to find it in one photo.
The back of the jersey has a nice mark on the back left shoulder/armpit area and another mark on the “S” in the “JOSI” nameplate. Both of those spots of wear have also been matched to various games. There are also a few snags and loose threads near the right armpit, and both the front and back hem have some signs of wear via pilling and so forth.
This sweater — or another from this season — was an important grab for the Preds captain collection.
As the lone captain to win a major award (and it wasn’t even a leg lamp!), Josi has solidified himself as one of the best players in franchise history.
He’s still only 30, so he’s still got a few more good years left in him to solidify himself as the best defender and potentially the second number retired and raised to the rafters behind goaltender Pekka Rinne.