Following up on those tweets from last night, the Nashville Predators have officially recalled defenseman Roman Josi from Milwaukee. A concussion suffered during training camp cost Josi his chance to make the roster right from the start of the season. I’ll be very interested to see how much of an impact he can make at the NHL level, although of course we should expect him to work his way up the depth chart from the bottom, as a rookie.
This guy boasts impressive talent, mobility, and puck-moving ability, and had the chance to get used to North American hockey last season with the Admirals. The slow-but-steady development path has been followed to a “T” with Josi to this point, so he should be ready to help shore up what has been a shaky Nashville blueline at times.
An excerpt from the Preds’ press release follows:
Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has recalled defenseman Roman Josi (ROH-man YO-see) from Milwaukee (AHL).
Josi, 21 (6/1/90), has points (1g-3a) in four of five games he’s played for the Admirals this season. A season ago, the Bern, Switzerland native was one of just three AHL rookie defensemen to post at least 40 points (6g-34a-40pts); he also led the 2010-11 Admirals in power-play points (3g-22a-25pts). Nashville’s third choice, 38th overall (second round), in 2008 Entry Draft helped SC Bern win both the Swiss League regular season and playoff titles in 2009-10, and represented his nation in both the 2009 and 2010 World Championships.