Morrissey soars in first season with Jets

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/04/2017 (3341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Josh Morrissey arrived at training camp with the Winnipeg Jets last fall, his goal was simply to stick around as long as he could.

On Saturday, Morrissey, the Jets’ rookie defenceman, was one of just four players — and the only defenceman — to play all 82 games for Winnipeg, capping off the season-long streak in with a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators in the regular-season finale.

“Things happen in a game and, fortunately, I’ve been able to stay healthy throughout the season,” Morrissey said. “It’s my first full year in the NHL, it’s definitely a schedule that is tougher than what I’ve experienced before, but I’ve been happy with the way I’ve been able to handle it. As you go forward, experience is such a big thing and having one year under the belt you kind of know what to expect going into the future.”

The future looks bright for Morrissey and it’s not just his durability that has impressed his teammates and coaches. The 22-year-old went from a relative unknown, at least when it came to where he’d fit in the Jets’ depth chart this season, to a legitimate top-four defenceman.

It’s the kind of transition that Jets head coach Paul Maurice couldn’t have predicted, let alone imagined back in the fall. Even if the positive reviews on the young defenceman didn’t take long to start trickling in.

“I was calling back from the World Cup (in Toronto), just trying to get a glimpse of what was going on and every day (at training camp),” Maurice said, “and it was ‘Josh Morrissey is looking really good and he’s playing really well.’

“The things we would have said to you prior to this training camp that Josh needed to improve, he’s turned into his strengths and almost from Day 1. His quickness getting back to the puck, his physicality one-on-one, he’s learned how to, for the most part, engage one-on-one with far bigger men.”

Morrissey, an offensively gifted blue-liner during his time in the Western Hockey League, was selected 13th overall in the 2013 NHL Draft.

He played four seasons with the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL — he was traded to Kelowna late in his final year, 2014-15, in order to join the Rockets in their run to the Memorial Cup — and his best year came in his third campaign when he scored 28 goals and 73 points in 59 games.

Morrissey hasn’t had the same success in the offensive zone in the NHL, finishing with six goals and 20 points this season. In his first full season of professional hockey with the Manitoba Moose last year, Morrissey had three goals and 19 assists in 57 games.

Maurice isn’t concerned about the offensive part of his game and believes it will only be a matter of time before that, too, eventually shines through.

“The offensive thing is the last thing we think we’re going to see, but we believe it’s there,” the Jets coach said. “But the things that we would have said, ‘These are the big checklist for him,’ he had done right away.”

Needless to say, it’s been a whirlwind of a season for Morrissey. After a strong training camp, aided by the absence of Jacob Trouba — who missed the first chunk of games because of a contract stalemate — Morrissey started the year with Dustin Byfuglien on the Jets’ top defensive pairing. He would flourish there and, by the late stages of the season, began to play opposite Trouba. Though Morrissey was limited with his time on the power play, he was a staple on the penalty kill and logged nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game.

“I really just wanted to have a really good training camp and do whatever I could to try and make the team and from there all of a sudden you’re on the opening day roster and you’re starting,” Morrissey said, “and then you’re 10 games, 20 games into the year; now, all of a sudden you’re 60 games in and still playing and now we’re here in the last game.

“I’ve just been trying to take it a game at a time. I know it’s cliché, but I just wanted to get better every day. I feel I’ve been able to do that for the most part throughout this season and get better and improve my game. It’s been a lot of fun and, obviously, a dream to play in the NHL. I just want to keep improving my game.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jeffkhamilton