The Nashville Predators and the NHL announced today that defender Roman Josi would be the team’s sole representative to the 2020 All-Star Game next month on January 25, 2020 in St. Louis. This is Josi’s third appearance, and second straight after making the Central Division roster in 2016 and again in 2019.
It should be little surprise to anyone who has watched the Predators this season that the team captain is making a repeat appearance. In a season full of ups and downs, Josi has shone as a consistent star, en route to what is very likely to be a career season.
Roman Josi, in 38 games played, is just one goal short of his career high of 15 in 2014-15 and last season, and with 39 points is on pace for an 84-point season, which would beat his career high of 61 in 2015-16 by a large margin.
Josi and defense partner Ryan Ellis have been one of the best defense pairs in the entire NHL this season by several advanced metrics, and the Predators’ captain has been instrumental in the team’s recent 5-4-1 record, with 7 goals, 7 assists and 14 points total in the last 10 games.
While the Washington Capital’s John Carlson has long thought to be the frontrunner for the Norris Trophy, the NHL’s award for “defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-around ability in the position”, Roman Josi as well as Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton have made strong cases as of late and Carlson’s status as the leader may be in doubt. With Josi’s strong goal-scoring ability and much-improved defense (more on this in the near future), I would not be surprised to see Josi take home the award by the end of the season.
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski on Twitter released the rest of the All-Star rosters below:
Your 2020 NHL All-Star Weekend rosters! pic.twitter.com/l5hT04vYgL
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) December 30, 2019