- The Tennessean makes the case for Nashville trading captain Roman Josi
- Josi has two years left at $9.059M and a full no-movement clause
- Read below for why a Josi trade is still a long shot in Nashville
Ten years after the Predators traded one captain, somebody is telling them to trade another.
Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean wrote up the case for moving Roman Josi, and he tied it straight to the Shea Weber deal from June 2016. The pitch has been circulating around the league again this week.
Here is Daugherty framing it:
The argument runs on the calendar. Josi turned 36 in June and has two years left at a $9.059 million cap hit, while Nashville has missed the playoffs two seasons running.
New president of hockey operations and general manager Chris MacFarland was asked about the plan for the roster and set the bar well past a playoff berth, per Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com.
“The goal is not to build a wild card team or a team that can make the playoffs,” MacFarland said. “It’s really hard to do. Don’t get me wrong.”
If that team shows up after Josi’s contract expires in 2028, cashing him in now gets easier to justify.
Josi holds the deciding vote either way. His eight-year extension carries a full no-movement clause, so nothing happens unless he signs off on it.
He also has not fallen off. Josi put up 13 goals and 42 assists in 68 games last season, then swept the individual hardware at the World Championship in May, taking MVP, top defenseman and an All-Star Team spot while captaining Switzerland to silver.
Take a look at the Swiss federation’s rundown of his tournament:
Availability is the real question. Josi missed 14 games last season with an upper-body injury and sat out 29 the year before that.
Moving him would also cut against what MacFarland says he needs. The new GM told Cotsonika he wants more puck skill on the back end, and Josi is the one defenseman in Nashville who already supplies it.
Brady Skjei is coming off a quieter offensive season and Justin Barron has not replicated what he did in the lower levels. Pull Josi out of that group and the blue line MacFarland wants to upgrade gets thinner instead.
Nashville still has better than $7.6 million in cap space and a GM who says he is working the phones with other teams. None of that reads like an executive shopping his captain.
