Roman Josi signed 8 years $9.059 AAV

[Canada 02]

The Nashville Predators have signed captain to an eight-year, $72.47 million contract extension.

The contract will carry an average annual value of $9.059 million and includes $33.75 million in signing bonuses.

https://www.tsn.ca/nashville-predato...deal-1.1389106

[ComixZone]

Josi is 29, and I was going to come in and say "this will bite them in the ass", but I think it's totally reasonable to think Josi will still be going strong at 37.

Cap hit will likely age well as well.

[Erick Estrada]

He's been the model of consistency for six straight years so little not to like about this contract.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Clearly this is why they moved their other $9 million contract this last off-season. Josi is definitely a guy to bet on long term, but I do question any player's performance after 35, so the last two years might be dicey.

Absolutely the correct investment. Poile shows again why he's one of the strongest GMs in the league.

[agulati]

I think he will be solid for most, if not all, of his extension years. Good signing by the preds. It’s crazy to see how many top end defensemen they have developed over the years

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Clearly this is why they moved their other $9 million contract this last off-season. Josi is definitely a guy to bet on long term, but I do question any player's performance after 35, so the last two years might be dicey.

Absolutely the correct investment. Poile shows again why he's one of the strongest GMs in the league.

Elite defensemen without major leg injuries can play into their 40s.

[Oling_Roachinen]

That's a pretty exclusive list. Lidstrom, Chelios and Chara are the only defenseman to play in their 41+ seasons in the last two decades. Bourque and Blake did play into their 40th birthdays.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Pick an age and look for yourself. https://www.quanthockey.com/nhl/play...efensemen.html

[Flash Walken]

I was absolutely wrong about Giordano, so maybe I'm absolutely wrong about Josi, but I do not love this deal.

[Huntingwhale]

He took a pretty big discount his last contract, so I'm not surprised he gets a monster deal this time.

Great defenceman, one of the best in the league consistently.

[The Cobra]

Of course signing him for less years would have been better, but let's look at realistically what options Nashville had in dealing with Josi.

(1) Sign your best player for a FMV contract (one he could have likely exceeded in UFA) and contend for a number of years, understanding the back end may not be great.
(2) Trade him now for some picks/prospects, punting this year and likely greatly affecting your ability to contend anytime soon.
(3) Let him walk at the end of the year, and really affect your ability to contend anytime soon.

Josi is an elite talent, and letting him walk was never going to help you win the Stanley Cup.

Teams that don't want to sign contracts that will likely end badly also don't generally win the Cup.

If you aren't prepared to sign elite talent for FMV at a time you are a contending team means you are not prepared to do what it takes to win.

If Nashville weren't prepared top sign him to this type of deal, they needed to trade him as least a few years before UFA when they could have likely received some current assets to keep their window open. That ship has now sailed, so they took the only reasonable option (and best one IMO) to try and win the SC.

[cowtown75]

He was on a very low, high value deal for quite some time. It's nice to see the Preds reward him. Not to mention, he is a heck of a defenceman.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

He took a pretty big discount his last contract, so I'm not surprised he gets a monster deal this time.

Great defenceman, one of the best in the league consistently.

There likely is a bit of give by the Preds here recognizing that the player gave them exceptional value on the last deal. So they can take some term risk back in trade here. But for a guy who plays as efficiently as he does even at 36 and 37 he likely will still earn that salary.

[Strange Brew]

Cobra nailed it with his take. This is what you need to do to win. Never without risk.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I was absolutely wrong about Giordano, so maybe I'm absolutely wrong about Josi, but I do not love this deal.

At the end of the day, who cares about the deal? If you're a fan of the Predators, you just locked up one of, if not the best transitional defenders in the game, who is showing no signs of slowing down. You're getting elite offense and above average defending from this guy. It's going to cost more than just market value to retain him after so many years of below market contracts.