At the very least, Jeff Kealty was pretty sure he wanted to take a chance on Josi.
Nashville’s Assistant General Manager and Director of Scouting was still helping to run the show back in 2008, a time when he believed Swiss players were undervalued. But once he saw Josi in the summer of 2007, Kealty knew he was at least worth a few extra looks.
The first pick in Round Two for the Predators that year wasn’t set to come until No. 46. Kealty was certain Josi wouldn’t last that long, so Poile went to work to find a partner to trade up. The GM found a match at No. 38, and once Josi was still available, the deal was made so the Preds could get their guy.
“I think if you knew [he was going to be one of the best defensemen in the League], he would have been like Top 10, Top 5,” Kealty laughed. “But you always hope, you know what I mean? That’s the beauty of the Draft – you’re always looking for that guy… But I will say this: he’s always a guy that we had our eye on early, had a really good feeling about him, and we did trade up for him in that Draft… We liked him. Had a good feeling about him to do all that…and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
“Our scouting staff kind of picked him out of the crowd real early,” Poile recalled. “I mean, they had a strong feeling about him really early… They were absolutely bang on – probably one of the best draft choices we’ve ever had in the Nashville Predators history.”
Josi has proven that to be fact time and time again.
No matter the time and place, the 2020 Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman has shown up night after night, always ready to make the big play on the ice or support the community off of it.
“To me, getting to 1,000 games is a testament to the person,” Preds CEO Sean Henry said. “I’m always so impressed with people that hit that milestone, because it is something they’re willing themselves to, period. Then you add on the fact that he’s played for a single team, that goes back to the individual, and that’s sheer loyalty… He wants this team to do things we’ve never done before on the ice, in the community, and look at what he and [his wife] Ellie have done, how they personally touch organizations.
“I think the sheer amount of time he’s willing to give to individuals, too, you never feel like he’s rushed. And you pass him in the hallway, in the locker room… I mean, he probably knows more people’s names in the organization than you and I combined, because he cares, and it’s so contagious. You can’t have a bad day when you’re around him. Just can’t.”
The amount of care Josi puts into his relationships permeates everything he does. And for someone who is looked to as the on-ice leader of the franchise, that attitude is infectious.
“We see every night and appreciate how great of a defenseman he is, but he’s even a greater person,” Preds General Manager Barry Trotz said. “You talk about a Nashville Predators draft pick, what would you want him to be? If you’re going to be Roman Josi, and not just the player, but the person, and how he treats people, and how he cares, how he takes care of himself, all the stuff he’s been involved in in the community, Roman would be exactly what you would be the blueprint for any Nashville Predators draft pick, from the start of this franchise to when this franchise is 100 or 200 years old.”