Roman Josi: Big trade good for Nashville, Montreal

MONTREAL -- Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi still won't pick a winner in the trade that brought P.K. Subban from the Montreal Canadiens for Shea Weber, but to hear Josi talk, it's clear he thinks each team did pretty well.
Asked again Saturday who won the trade of June 29, Josi instead talked about his new teammate and his former teammate.

"They're both great players," Josi said Saturday after Team Europe practiced at Bell Centre ahead of a World Cup of Hockey 2016 pretournament game against Team North America on Sunday (6 p.m. ET; ESPN3, SN, TVA Sports). "Both teams are getting great players, great personalities.

"Obviously [Subban's] a great player. We're excited to have him in Nashville. He's one of the best defensemen in the world. He's a great personality too."
Josi said the trade is further confirmation the Predators, once a defense-oriented team, are evolving.
"I think it's one of the philosophies of coach [Peter] Laviolette that he wants to play a fast game and he wants, defensemen -- especially defensemen -- that skate with the puck and move the puck and join the rush and play in the offensive zone too," Josi said. "I think P.K. fits that style really well."
Josi, who was Weber's defense partner for four seasons, said he will have to find a way to fit with Subban or whoever he is paired with.

"I don't know if we're going to play together, but I think every time you switch a partner, if you've been playing with a guy for a long time, you're going to have to get used to what the other guy does and build a lot of chemistry," Josi said. "That takes a little time when you get a new partner, but that's what you've got [training] camp for, and a couple of preseason games so you can adjust.
"Shea was a big leader on our team, been the captain for a couple of years. Everybody loved him on the team and he was a great friend of mine too. We're definitely going to miss him as a player and as a person too. But like I said, P.K. brings a lot of different things. He's a great player, brings a lot of skill and a lot of speed. That's the way Peter Laviolette wants to play."