Defenceman Roman Josi has been named the eighth captain in Nashville Predators' history, the club revealed on Tuesday.

Josi received the "C" after the retirement of Mike Fisher.

The team also announced that Ryan Ellis will serve as an associate captain, while Ryan Johansen, Mattias Ekholm and Filip Forsberg will serve as alternate captains.

 

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A native of Bern, Swizterland, Josi is heading into his seventh National Hockey League season.

"I'm really excited," Josi said in a statement. "It's obviously a huge honour, and I've had some really good guys to learn from with former captains Shea Weber and Mike Fisher in the time I've been here. It's definitely a huge honour, and I know we have a great leadership group, a great group of guys, so I'm really excited."

The 26-year-old Josi appeared in 72 games for the Western Conference champions last year, scoring 12 goals and adding 37 assists. He appeared in all 22 of the team's playoff games as the Predators reached the Stanley Cup Final.

"This is the right time to name Roman the captain of our franchise," general manager David Poile said in a statement. "Not only is he one of our best players, but he's also one of the top defencemen in the entire League. He's respected by his teammates, coaches and opponents and he represents our organization and logo with the utmost class and integrity on and off the ice. I know Roman is ready to become captain and I have no doubt he will fulfill these duties with the same passion we've become accustomed to seeing from him day after day."

Taken in the second round of the 2008 NHL entry fraft, Josi succeeds Fisher, Shea Weber, Jason Arnott, Kimmo Timonen, Greg Johnson and Tom Fitzgerald as club captain.

"You always dream about playing in the NHL, but being a captain of an NHL team, it's definitely something I never thought about," Josi said. "It's a huge honour, and I'm just really excited to get going. I think all of us are."

In 406 career games, Josi has 64 goals and 175 assists.