It is difficult to speak since i am Swiss and ... logically you will believe that i am homering about him. Therefore putting my say in a relative context. (i and any logical person would do it.).
Therefore all i can do is draw your attention on what coach Lambert said last year on Josi when he was head coach at Milwaukee ... !
It is somewhere buried in the "admiral round-table".
He said that Josi was the most talented kid he had under him !
That is a big statement.
Since this same Lambert was promoted to the Predators ... seems that his opinions and says were appreciated.
I added the exact words :
"Coach Lambert said last week that pretty soon, fans are going to be seeing that Josi may be the most talented defenseman that we’ve had in Milwaukee. And that says A LOT, considering how many defenseman playing in Nashville have spent some time here. "
What did I say that makes you think im under estimating Josi? Josi has been my favorite prospect for 3 years now... I know what skills and tools he has, ive been saying it.
What did I say that makes you think im under estimating Josi? Josi has been my favorite prospect for 3 years now... I know what skills and tools he has, ive been saying it.
I was not addressing my answer to you specifically ... sorry if you felt so. my mis-posting.
And in fact it is the prospect ranking where i see 1 Blum, 2 Ellis 3 Josi that, i believe underestimates Josi. To me 1 Josi 2 Blum 3 Ellis.
I follow Josi because for me he is the best hockey player Switzerland will have for some time. Compare him to the Russian Ovechkin or the Canadian Sid.
Of course we are a small hockey nation ... josi may not be as good as the 2 mentioned guys but he will be our hockey star. So i am following him. (better than Baertschi, Niedereiter, Sbisa or ... )
Since i have free time, i watched almost all games Josi played with the preds. I saw a dramatic change in his game. I am still scared with some brain farts ... or pucks bouncing over the stick .... but to me he improved incredibly.
He is smart and thinks very fast. (he was uncontested ping pong champion in Milwaukee Admirals ... nothing to do ? directly not ... agreed ... but you need to think fast to play well ping pong ... he has it in him ... speed of thought)
I believe that he is a short term intelligence genius. explaining his smart passes and high level of conscience of the game. The way he anticipates the trajectory of the others allows him to "valse" through the entire rink ! through reading the skating of the others, he can read their intention ... even the comment :"he is polite and professional". You don't say that about a sportsmen !! he is polite ! unless he is
Something he has not started to do is to score. his ratio goals /assists should be higher. This happened since he arrived in NA. I am convinced suddenly it will click. It is as if he lowered his standard of "exigence" when shooting to allow for the time (rinks being smaller ... you have less time to shoot) to shoot. He will suddenly become aware of that and work on it again. (in 18 months, he should have adjusted ... so i believe that he took a bad habit to adjust.). now he has to get rid of this bad habit.
His weakness may be that he is not brutal ... rather gentle (real smart guys are often gentle). I could see him in a player à la Sid, less talent specially on the stick handling front but same style. (not the same spot ...obviously)
So to me, with a 20 mins a game, and a decent winger, he should be scoring 40 pts per reg. season. With a better shot. That would be, in my view doable in the end of this year or next year. (i see it this way ... ! pardon me if i am a bit too optimistic but so far i stick to my vision on him ... He could even be a Norris winner in some years ... with a 60 to 80 pts per game.
A rather positive vision i have ...
Not all share it ... among my landsman as well ... that is my view on him. And so far ...
Not all share it ... among my landsman as well ... that is my view on him. And so far ...
I actually haven't met a single swiss that does think Josi wont make the NHL (we shouldnt forget that for a 21y old swiss, this is quite an accomplishment).
But we've also seen him giving his debut in the NLA with SC Bern (one of europes biggest clubs, with no budget problems whatsoever and no need to rush their youth) with 16. Or his last season in Switzerland, when he was probably the best defensemen of his team with the age of 19.
so, this kid has spoiled us pretty heavily, but that shouldn't raise our expectations trough the roof (like the norris trophy). our league aint bad, but im pretty sure that a lot of the nhl's top defensemen would've had the same success here as Josi did.
]I actually haven't met a single swiss that does think Josi wont make the NHL [/B](we shouldnt forget that for a 21y old swiss, this is quite an accomplishment).
But we've also seen him giving his debut in the NLA with SC Bern (one of europes biggest clubs, with no budget problems whatsoever and no need to rush their youth) with 16. Or his last season in Switzerland, when he was probably the best defensemen of his team with the age of 19.
so, this kid has spoiled us pretty heavily, but that shouldn't raise our expectations trough the roof (like the norris trophy). our league aint bad, but im pretty sure that a lot of the nhl's top defensemen would've had the same success here as Josi did.
however, he keeps impressing me
No one has a doubt relative to him making the NHL.
The question is how far he will go.
Most we agree that he is among the most talented of the Swiss playing in NHL.
In fact i believe that he has the potential to be a prospect grade 9 according to hockeys future scale. (they rate him 7 ! Blum 8 and Ellis 7.5 !!) hockeysfuture prospect grade definintion. This is where you start coughing and deeming me a bit too mancrusched !
I may be a bit extreme. The future will tell us.
But as long as he scores goals and assists for the Preds ... we are all in favour of it.
Totally agree. His mobility puts him a good distance above everyone else in our prospect pool.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kypredsfan
Josi is a stud and will be Suter's replacement. And we won't really see the difference.
I think we will see a difference. Josi is a much better shooter, and isn't as physical as Suter. He does have a lot of the same tools, though, and if push comes to shove, he would make an adequate replacement for Suter. But if we have that much money to spend, we might ought to go out and pick up a guy like Dennis Wideman if he hits the open market.
Last edited by worstfaceoffmanever: 02-28-2012 at 09:12 AM.
He might step back next season, along with Ellis and Smith. It's just the common theme with us lately. Though I don't see any of them, except possibly Ellis, falling as hard as Blum did.
But I expect Wilson to continue his improvement, and Blum should bounce back at least enough to be a consistent and sure 3rd pair guy... if he doesn't then he may be in trouble.
I like Josi's potential. I think it's a little early to say it'll be a relatively even swap for Suter though. Suter is so calm, and he has a calming effect on Weber, too. Suter is so hockey smart - he sees the ice incredibly well.
Josi has great physical tools - skating, shot. Plays a pretty smart game for a 21yo. Already you can see his game change playing with Gill instead of Klein - adjusting for difference in style of game and speed of partner. Be interesting this last 20games - he should have a few more chances to display his offensive skills carrying the puck on the rush and such. But also a bigger demand to be defensively responsible cause Gill pinches a lot more than I expected, and he doesn't have KKs speed to get back.
Potential #1? I dunno - I think that's gonna' come down to how he uses his body and how physical he can play. Not that you have to crush people and such - but you gotta' be in position and use the body, etc, and Josi isn't there yet. But even so, a solid first pair guy? I'd bet on it.
I think Blum came in not ready for this season. I expect him to bounce back in a big way next year. Part of our problem was the lack of a true steadying veteran presence on the back end. I think the Predators would benefit greatly from a guy like Hal Gill signed irregardless of Suter's staying/leaving.
I think Blum came in not ready for this season. I expect him to bounce back in a big way next year. Part of our problem was the lack of a true steadying veteran presence on the back end. I think the Predators would benefit greatly from a guy like Hal Gill signed irregardless of Suter's staying/leaving.
Josi is ready for the big time IMO.
I agree completely. And let me add that while I think Suter is a fantastic player, I don't think he wants to be a mentor to anyone and I think he leads young players about as well as Arnott did... Gill on the other hand from what I hear is great mentoring the younger players
This kid continues to impress. I'm sure he still makes rookie mistakes in the D zone (though nothing sticks in my mind lately), but his ability to handle the puck and carry through the zone is excellent, especially for a rook.
According to some swiss news reports Josi's upper body injury is another concussion. If it's true, it would be his 3rd concussion in a span of 18 months.
i worry that's the case. he took a nasty elbow to the face from brad stuart the other night that was somehow only a 2 minute penalty despite being a blatant headshot.
i worry that's the case. he took a nasty elbow to the face from brad stuart the other night that was somehow only a 2 minute penalty despite being a blatant headshot.
I have been wondering the same thing. Are players have been ejected from the game and a major penalty for the same kind of thing. It was clearly a shot to the head by Stuart and not a thing has come from it. Ahh good ole Detroit.
Had to love how Zetterbaby was crying to the refs during a break and within a matter of minutes two questionable penalties where called on the Predators.
