2024 Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Colin Campbell, left to right, Krissy Wendell-Pohl, Pavel Datsyuk, Natalie Darwitz, Shea Weber, Jeremy Roenick and David Poile stand for the national anthems at a recent game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto.

-- Photo By Frank Gunn | The Canadian Press

Nearly two weeks after their induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame, former Predators general manager David Poile and captain Shea Weber were welcomed back to Bridgestone Arena and honored before the Nov. 23 home game against the Winnipeg Jets. The two participated in a ceremonial faceoff.

Poile’s impact on the organization is well-known. As the only general manager in team history before stepping aside following the end of the 2022-23 season, all player personnel moves were made by him, including many of the players on the current roster as well as those in the pipeline. One of Poile’s biggest victories was drafting Weber in the second round of the 2003 Entry Draft.

While maybe not as evident, Weber’s influence on the team is still present, nearly 10 years after Poile dealt the hulking blueliner to the Montréal Canadiens in exchange for P.K. Subban in late June 2016.

Later on in Weber’s tenure with the Predators, his defensive partner was Roman Josi, who then was at the beginning of his stellar career. Fast forward to the present, Josi is now the longest-tenured captain in franchise history and well on his way to joining Weber in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto following the conclusion of his playing career.

“I was very lucky,” Josi says. “As soon as I came up, he was captain here and obviously one of the best D-men in the league. My second year, I got to play with him, and for a young kid it was an unbelievable opportunity for me.”

For all of the positive experiences Josi gained in playing with Weber on the ice, he’s realizing more as time goes on that the lessons he taught him off it are just as or even more valuable.

“When you play with him, while you do it, everything is exciting,” he continues. “Now that I’m a little older, you look back and realize how lucky you were to play with a guy like that right away and how much I learned from him. There’s still so many things that I do that I learned from Shea. I don’t know if I’d be where I am if it wasn’t for him.”

Weber has never been comfortable talking about himself but would always heap praise on his team or his teammates individually. When asked about watching Josi’s progression first as a teammate, then as an opponent and now as a fan, he was effusive in complimenting the Swiss blueliner.

“He’s a tremendous hockey player,” Weber says. “He was when I played with him. I was grateful to have him as my partner and definitely keeping tabs on how he’s doing.”

Better with than against

Josi mentioned that playing against Weber during his time with the Canadiens was at first weird, but he quickly learned that playing with Weber was a whole lot more fun than playing against him.

That thought was echoed by Predators coach Andrew Brunette, who was never a teammate of Weber’s but spent the majority of the last few seasons of his playing career with Central Division teams, so he played against Weber frequently. Asked if he had any memories of playing against Weber, Brunette was quick to respond with a laugh.

“Not good ones,” he says. “Going in front of the net with Shea Weber was never very fun. I was fortunate to play against a lot of great defensemen and he’s right up there as being the whole package. You didn’t want to get hit by his shot, he was mean, he was physical, he could skate and make a play. He was a full package.”

While Weber never won a Stanley Cup or an individual NHL award, he was a slam dunk as a first ballot Hall of Famer. Weber did have a decorated junior and international career, something that Josi does not have coming from Switzerland, a country more known for chocolate and neutrality than international hockey success. But Josi already has one Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman on his resume and should likely have won another.

Barring something unexpected, Josi will finish his career as the Predators’ all-time leader in games played and with the most goals, assists and points by a defenseman. At 34, Josi is still logging huge amounts of ice time and showing no signs of slowing down. Signed through the 2027-28 season, Josi has ample time to pad his already strong case to become the second Predators-drafted player, following Weber, to make it to the Hockey Hall of Fame.