Oilers Aquire Roman Josi, In My Dreams

Looking at the Oilers roster this offseason, it has the exact same gapping hole as five years ago. Defense. You can argue the forwards are missing size or that until recent days the goaltending sucked. But the same old in Oil Country is that the Oilers defense sucks. At the moment our number one guy is a player who has exclusive rights on getting his shot blocked and down the middle giveaways. That’s how bad it is in Alberta’s capital.

We’ve constantly tried to seal a planet size hole with tire patches. Adding in names like Ference, Whitney, Vishnovsky, Gilbert ect. since (he that shall not be named) left town. But, honestly, was just as bad before the “New” NHL super trade. With names like Mironov, Smith, Niinimaa, Hamrlik ect. Take Pronger out of the equation and the Oilers haven’t had a decent number one guy in decades. That’s very sad. Very, very sad….. But not unheard of. At any given time, there are five to ten legitimate number one guys in the NHL. We have one of the last generation still in the NHL. Big Z, the captain of the Boston Bruins. He is that last of the Lindstrom, Niedermeyer, Pronger, Chara era.

When I say number one, I mean true blue, 25-30 minutes a night, elite, superstar defender. There are a few top pairing guys like Seabrook or Bouwmeester that are excellent players. But not guys that could control a game on their own. Right now those guys are Weber, Keith, Suter, Doughty, Karlsson, Subban and McDonagh. That’s it. Seven guys who are true number one guys. Guys who are the best of the Generation. Plain and simple. While there are top pairing guys who are excellent players, they usually are elite a certain aspects, but not everything like the players above. Or haven’t proved anything on a consistent basis.

Guys in this group that come to the top of my head are Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester, Seabrook, Ekmund-Larsson, Yandle, Kronwall, Giordano, Hedman, Carlsson and Josi. Just to name a few.

These are guys that any person would love to have on their team. But not quite at the same level of play as a Weber or Doughty. These players are very good. And with experience, some could maybe join the list as Generational players. Elite players that come around every decade. But there is a single player on the list I want to focus on:

Roman Josi Highlights

59-Roman Josi

Shoots:Left Age:23

Birthplace: Bern, Switzerland

Height: 6′ 1″

Weight: 192lbs.

While he isn’t a guy you are meaning to watch during a Nashville game. He is someone you do notice. Josi is a guy that’s at a very important juncture of his career. He is coming to the age that can decide which trajectory his career. Many say he is being carried by Shea Weber. But those are the same that said that exact thing about Suter or Hamhuis as well. They are crazy. Suter turned out to be an Elite level guy at the same level as Weber and Hamhuis is clearly an excellent top pairing guy. Josi is going to be the next guy that decides which way he will go.

This year, Roman Josi, averaged 26:25 a game. That is an insane amount of time on the ice. That puts him at fifth in the NHL in Ice Time Per Game. That, in itself, is quite the accomplishment. It puts him right in between Shea Weber and Drew Doughty in that category. But any player can be thrust into a role and amounts of ice time, when they don’t have a better option. So while he does log a lot of minutes, let’s take a look if he could handle that many minutes or not.

With the amount of minutes he was on the ice, you could see him struggling playing against other teams top players. A hard enough task in itself, but it doesn’t seem so. He ranked at 177th in the NHL in Plus Minus with a -2 rating on the year. A throw away stat if you ask me. But on a non playoff team, playing as many minutes as he did, that number tied him with his defense partner. Which isn’t too bad at all. It also tied him with arguably our best defender down the stretch, Marty Marincin. Even though Marincin did play over half as many games.

One stat that puts him as a top pairing defender is his point totals. He had 40 points in 71 games. That is good enough for 25th in the NHL. That gives him a three way tie with two playoff bound defenders. Boston Bruin defenders Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug. Both great defenders in their own rights. That’s not too bad company to find himself in. He also had 13 goals on the year. That has him at 10th in the NHL. Right on par with Avalanches star defender Tyson Barrie and Lightning Cornerstone Victor Hedman. Once again, not to shabby for the Young Swiss player.

With the mass amounts of ice time, he was still an effective top pairing defender. Oilers fans didn’t get a real chance to see Josi play the last few years. Not because he wasn’t playing, but more, the Oilers are the Pred’s Achilles heels. Even Weber didn’t look like an NHL defender against the Oilers. But Josi is the real deal. he is a guy who can put up top pairing amount of points while logging major minutes against the other teams top lines. Play a positional safe and sound game in his own zone. He has a hard accurate shot and a smooth skating stride.

He may not be the physical specimen that Weber is. But his hockey smarts, skills and positional play are right on par. He can log 25+ minutes a game and be used in every situation. He is already a top pairing defender. That much is certain. He is on an upward directory to become a top 20 defender in the NHL. He just has to put all the pieces together. The thing he doesn’t do consistently is play a physical game. He does play physical, but not consistently. Not a heavy hitter or anything, but can rub out guys and strong enough to battle in corner and in front of the net. This could be because he has a partner in Shea Weber, or might not have it in his game. Either way, it is up to him to figure out which one he is going to be.

Nashville is a team that has lost Olympic level talent for nothing a few players in a row. They aren’t going to let a third slide. The Predators are a team dying for skilled players and we need top four defenders. A match made in heaven as pointed out by a thousand people so far. Usually that’s when something happens. Especially with players like Jones, Del Zotto and Ekholm waiting in the reins. Nashville has a chance to bring in offense for a defender that they can replace with a wealth of talent. People keep bringing up Jordan Eberles name. Just stop it.

Eberle is a pure goal scorer and point producer. He is also one third of the Oilers top line for the next decade. Plus best friends with our franchise player. He is not going anywhere. Roman Josi is part of a long history of top pairing defenders out of Nashville. We have many skilled players they could definitely use and we need a top pairing defender. They could use any number of our skilled players. Even a Sam Gagner would be appealing since he is a skilled forward that would not look as bad with two decent two way players on his wing. Or even move him to Mike Fishers wing. We even have a nice draft pick that will be on the board when an Offensive Center is still available.

The possibilities are endless to make a deal like this work. The only common fixture out of all the scenarios is Roman Josi. A player, even at his worst, would jump our back end light years ahead. It would help the team skip a year in it’s 23 year rebuild. A single part that would help this team more than any since that trade back with the St.Louis Blues.

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