Josi determined to lead Switzerland to 1st Olympic hockey medal in 78 years 

Roman Josi has accomplished so much, and along the way set a standard for any Switzerland-born hockey player looking to make a mark in the NHL one day.

The 35-year-old defenseman, selected by the Nashville Predators in the second round (No. 38) of the 2008 NHL Draft, is in his 15th NHL season and ninth as Predators captain.

He also happens to be Nashville's all-time leader in points, with 761 (200 goals, 561 assists) in 1,005 games.

There is one more item he'd like to check off his to-do list: earning a medal for his country at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Switzerland is looking to do just that in hockey for the first time since taking bronze at the 1948 St. Moritz Olympics, and the third time ever; it also won bronze at the 1928 St. Moritz Olympics.

"A medal ... that's definitely a dream come true," Josi said. "The Olympics is the biggest stage and with the NHL players back and after the success we had at World Championship, being able to show what we can do at the Olympics against the best players in the world will be huge for Swiss hockey.

"I think Swiss hockey has taken a lot of big steps the last couple of years and if we can compete at the Olympics and hopefully go as far as we can, it'd be a huge step for everyone, for myself, for Swiss hockey, for the whole country."

This will be Josi's second turn playing at the Olympics; he did not have a point in four games for Switzerland at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

"I was born and raised in Bern, Switzerland, which is like a three-hour train ride to Milan," Josi said. "My family will be there, and my friends are coming for some of the games. It kind of feels like a home game for us because Milan is so close. I'm sure there's going to be a ton of Swiss people coming to the games and Milan is really the closest big city to Switzerland, so it's going to be really cool."

Many players who helped Switzerland win the silver medal at the IIHF World Championship in 2024 and 2025 will be part of the Olympic team, including Josi (2024) and New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier (2024, 2025).

"Roman and Nico are very similar, actually," said Nashville coach Andrew Brunette, who coached Hischier as a Devils associate coach in 2022-23. "I was lucky to be around both of them. They are great leaders, great people, and I think that's what sticks out the most for both those guys. They treat all their teammates the same, people around the organization the same, they have big hearts.

"They run very welcoming dressing rooms where everybody's included and they're great hockey players who can change games quickly."

Josi is the only Swiss player to win an individual award presented for on-ice accolades in the NHL, claiming the Norris Trophy in 2019-20, voted as the best defenseman in the League in the first of four straight seasons in which he led the Predators in scoring.

He has represented Switzerland nine times at the IIHF World Championship, helping secure three of the four medals the country has won over the past 71 years (silver in 2013, 2018 and 2024).

"We need to play a good team game at the Olympics," Josi said. "I think when you look at the top teams and the players they have, we'll need to play as a team. I think that's one of our strengths. We know each other pretty well and a lot of the guys played together at World Championship. Even at the Worlds, every time we had success it was because we played a really structured, good team game. I think it won't be any different at the Olympics."

Josi became the first Swiss player to claim MVP honors at the IIHF 2013 World Championship after leading the country to its first gold medal game at the event in more than 75 years.

In 2024, he captained the club and led all defensemen in scoring (12 points; three goals, nine assists in 10 games) at Worlds to earn best defenseman and All-Star Team honors for a second straight year at the tournament.

"Just the momentum we have from World Championship the past two years with the way we played gives us some motivation," Josi said. "Obviously the Olympics is kind of a different animal, but it's really cool to have everyone there. It's kind of the first time that we're all together."

Josi became the first Predators player to reach 1,000 NHL games with the franchise on Jan. 22 and became the 25th defenseman in NHL history to reach the 200-goal milestone when he scored the game-winner in a 4-3 win at the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Team Switzerland coach Patrick Fischer is glad to have players like Josi pushing the pace.

"The leaders of a group have the power to really put a lot of momentum into the group or can destroy it," Fischer said. "We know it's always team first. We don't expect too many, let's say, cherry-pickers. We don't want that because it's not good for the group and having players like Josi (and forwards) Hischier, Nino Niederreiter (Winnipeg Jets), Kevin Fiala (Los Angeles Kings), Timo Meier (Devils), Jonas Siegenthaler (Devils) ... they're great team players. They understand their roles of leadership and know that success comes from playing together and taking responsibility as a unit.

"I'm super happy they're all a part of this roster because that makes the coaching staff's lives much easier."