NASHVILLE – Predators Swiss defenseman Roman Josi would love to play hockey the way his sporting idol Roger Federer plays tennis.
Smooth, succinct, efficient, Josi always tries his best, but ultimately knows it’s impossible to mimic the men’s tennis player’s moves on an enclosed rink.
“I would be flying on the ice if I played like him,” Josi exclaimed. “He’s just so effortless. I don’t know I don’t think anybody can copy him in any sport. The way he plays is fun to watch. I wish I was as good in hockey as he is in tennis.”
If Josi was as good at hockey as Federer is at tennis, he would essentially be Bobby Orr and enter the NHL’s GOAT territory. But Josi has a few Federer-like attributes. He’s a smooth-skating blueliner. His stride takes little effort. He zips breakout passes out of his own zone with maximum directness.
C’mon Roman, you’re a little like Fed … right?
“No, no,” he laughs.
OK, maybe not. But he’s at very least an All-Star snub, and has enough skill to one day be a Norris Trophy contender.
“There’s too many great defensemen out there. All the guys who are there really deserve it,” the humble Josi said of the ASG. “There are so many defensemen who didn’t make it, P.K. Subban and Erik Karlsson. I don’t think I got snubbed at all.”
Actually Roman, an argument could be made that you did.
You play 26:20 per-game, fifth in the NHL. Your breakout passes help Nashville’s transition game in its sixth-ranked offense. Your 28 points rank 13th in the NHL for defensemen. Across-the-board, your numbers are better than All-Stars Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Ryan Suter (except for ice-time on Suter).
The fact that Josi’s numbers are mostly better than the last name on that list probably would make most Predators fans jump for joy. It’s because Josi now plays with Shea Weber, replacing the longtime spot held by Suter.
And after a two year up-and-down transition, he finally seems to have at least neared Suter’s equal offensively – even if Suter is one of the nastiest, tough defenders of his generation.
And Josi gives Nashville his services for way less money. The 30-year-old Suter is making $98 million over 13 years. The 24-year-old Josi is in the second season of a seven-year $28 million deal.
“I think his game continues to get better,” Weber said. “He’s still young so he’s going to continue to get better, and he has an attitude where he wants to make a difference and continue to improve.”
Outside of Predators super rookie Filip Forsberg, Josi has probably been the biggest beneficiary of the hiring of new coach Peter Laviolette. He always had the green light to join an offensive rush under former bench boss Barry Trotz. But now, Josi sees just green – there’s not caution or stop. It’s just go.
“I think he is probably one of our more noticeable guys as somebody who can get the puck who can skate it out of our end and into the neutral zone and into the offensive zone,” Laviolette said.
Even though Josi still isn’t considered an 'elite' two-way threat like Weber or Suter, his defensive game has improved somewhat, mostly through his ability to take the puck and get it out of the defensive zone and zip it up to put Nashville on the attack.
“You see how mobile he is,” Weber said. “He’s one of the best skaters. He gets himself out of trouble and like a lot of our young D, great at escaping and making plays.”
Josi and Weber both aren’t exactly advanced stat monsters this year. In fact their on-ice Corsi is in negative territory per behindthenet.ca. But per the site, their quality of competition is the highest amongst Nashville’s defensemen. It’s also higher than for example, Alex Pietrangelo or Kevin Shattenkirk of St. Louis.
“I can tell you he has been rock solid in the defensive zone,” Laviolette said. “He’s a smart defender, he uses his body and his quickness to defend his hockey sense, he gets himself out of a lot of situations with his quickness, speed and his skating. He can take pucks and skate them out of our zone or get them into a quick area and make a pass out of our zone.”
Josi is close to making that next step, but at the moment he’s not physically strong enough. Not like he and I have done an arm wrestling contest to know this. He admits it.
“I’m still pretty weak,” he says.
But Suter isn’t the strongest player either. With him it’s all stick work and positioning on defense. In that regard Josi has improved. And if he continues on this track, it’s not a stretch to think the Predators can one day have two Norris Trophy caliber blueliners with him and Weber.
- - - - - - -
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY
from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/1EecPJZ
