Predators Captain Roman Josi Wins 2020 Norris Trophy

Nashville, Tenn. (September 21, 2020) - Nashville Predators Captain Roman Josi won the Norris Trophy on Monday, as announced during the 2020 NHL Awards presented by Las Vegas.
It is Josi's first career Norris Trophy, which is awarded annually "to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-around ability in the position." Josi earned the award by receiving 1499 voting points, including 109 first-place nods, cast by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season. The Preds blueliner beat out John Carlson of the Washington Capitals and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning for this season's award.

"Game in and game out, Roman was our leader, our best player and in our minds the best defenseman in the National Hockey League this season, and that was confirmed by him being awarded the Norris Trophy," Predators President of Hockey Operations/GM David Poile said. "Throughout his career he has been one of the most impactful players on and off the ice our franchise has ever had - as our captain he's respected by his teammates, coaches and opponents, and he represents our organization with class every day. Roman has always been an elite defenseman in this League, and we couldn't be happier for him to be recognized for his accomplishments in this way."
"Roman Josi is the leader of our team on and off the ice each and every night," Predators Head Coach John Hynes said. "He is an elite player who plays hard every game and leads by example no matter the situation. It's great for Roman, his family and the Nashville Predators organization for him to be recognized as the NHL's best defenseman by winning the Norris Trophy."

Josi won the Norris Trophy after posting the best statistical season of his nine-year NHL tenure, establishing career highs in points (65), goals (16) and assists (49). Among NHL defensemen, he finished first in shots (260); second in points and assists; tied for second in goals; third in average time on ice (25:47); and fifth in power-play points (23). In addition to setting the Predators franchise record for points and assists by a defenseman in a season, Josi also was the only NHL blueliner to post at least 15 goals, 45 assists, 60 points, a +20 rating and 25:00 of average ice time during the 2019-20 campaign. His four multi-goal games this season were the most by a defenseman this season.
The heart of Josi's Norris Trophy season came from Dec. 16-Jan. 9, when he rattled off a record-setting 12-game point streak in which he tallied seven goals and 20 points. The stretch, which featured six multi-point outings, was a franchise-record point streak for a defenseman and the second-longest overall point streak in Predators history. It was the longest point streak by an NHL defenseman since Philadelphia's Shayne Gostisbehere's 15-game run in 2015-16; he also became one of eight League blueliners in the last 20 years to record a point streak of at least 10 games. Josi also recorded a five-game goal streak (7g) from Dec. 16-23, the longest such streak by an NHL defenseman since Mike Green's eight-game run (10g) from Jan. 24-Feb. 14, 2009 with Washington.
No NHL defenseman was as dominant possessing the puck as Josi was during the 2019-20 regular season. According to data from The Point Hockey, Josi led all blueliners in zone exits (8.4), zone entries (5.4) and offensive-zone puck possession time (0:55), helping him record 11.6 percent of Nashville's overall points output. Among all skaters, he was second in puck possession per game at 2:32, and he had 149 end-to-end rushes, the fifth-most in the NHL.
Josi is the first player in Predators history to win the Norris Trophy and the second player to win a performance-based NHL award after his teammate Pekka Rinne won the 2018 Vezina Trophy. He joins Rinne as the third current member of the Predators organization to win a major NHL award - David Poile was named General Manager of the Year at the 2017 NHL Awards.
The Bern, Switzerland, native also became the first Swiss-born player to win a major NHL award. Currently at 413 career points (109g-304a), he sits just 22 shy of passing his idol, former NHL defenseman Mark Streit, for the most points by a Swiss-born player in League history.