Roman Josi of Bern, Switzerland, was named the National Hockey League first star of the month for March on Friday. In 14 games, the Nashville Predators blueliner had four goals and 24 assists for 28 points.
According to nhl.com, it was an historic month for Josi. He became the first defenseman to lead all National Hockey League players in points outright for a single calendar month since Paul Coffey of the Pittsburgh Penguins in February of 1990. During this month, Coffey had six goals and 22 assists for 28 points in 14 games.
There are only two other players in National Hockey League history who have had more points than Josi in a single month. Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins had eight goals and 23 assists for 31 points in 15 games during March of 1971, while Coffey of the Edmonton Oilers had six goals and 23 assists for 29 points in 14 games.
In 66 games this season, Josi has 16 goals and 63 assists for 81 points. He is a +22 with 40 penalty minutes, 31 power-play points, two game-winning goals, 233 shots on goal, 109 blocked shots, 48 hits, 39 takeaways, and 60 giveaways. Josi’s game-winning goals this season came in a 4-1 Predators win over the Arizona Coyotes on November 13, and in a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on March 8.
Josi has also got himself into the Norris Trophy conversation for this season. He previously won the award in 2019-20. One must realize Josi already has 16 more points this season than when he won the Norris Trophy in 2020, and the Predators still have 14 games left in the month of April. The only other player who deserves to be in the conversation for the Norris Trophy at this time is Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, who has 75 points in 64 games.
This is the second time this month that Josi was honoured. He was the NHL player of the week from March 13 to 19, 2022, after having nine assists in three games.
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