Morrissey always in Norris conversation

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This article was published 14/01/2025 (311 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Josh Morrissey recognizes he’s in a chase position when it comes to consideration for the Norris Trophy.

The Winnipeg Jets blue-liner has bridged the gap and is very much in the heart of the conversation when the NHL’s top defencemen are discussed just past the midway point of the 82-game season.

On Saturday, Morrissey went head-to-head with 2022 Norris winner Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche. On Tuesday, he’ll do battle with Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes, who captured his first Norris last June.

“I mean, I think of (Hughes) in a really high regard. I love watching him play,” Morrissey said after the Jets’ morning skate on Tuesday. “I try learning a lot from watching him play, to be honest. I feel like guys like him and (Cale) Makar and those guys, everyone else is chasing after.”

Morrissey enters Tuesday’s action fourth in NHL scoring among blue-liners, but it’s his ability to generate offence while also handling the responsibilities of excelling in his own zone that has allowed him to turn heads during the past several seasons.

“He’s one of the elite defencemen that join the rush. He’s always up as that fourth guy. He’s hard to defend,” said Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet. “If you’re sleeping on the tracking or the back-checking, guys like him, Hughes, Makar, he’s on that list where he’ll burn you.

“I really think he’s an underrated defender, too, if you watch the way he defends. That’s why he made Team Canada. That’s why he was picked on that team.”

Tocchet would know, as he’s one of the assistant coaches on Jon Cooper’s staff that will assemble for the 4 Nations Face-Off next month in Montreal and Boston.

Morrissey is taking his rightful place on that star-studded Canadian team and his options for defence partners are among the game’s elite.

Makar is expected to spend the bulk of his time with Avalanche D partner Devon Toews, although Morrissey is a candidate to skate alongside him as well.

“We skate together in the summer quite a bit. I watch him a lot and what he’s able to do on the ice, he’s having a great year. It’s exciting to see,” said Makar. “Maybe we can maybe even play together and stuff like that. He’s a special player and it will be fun to play with him.”

Makar has seen Morrissey grow his game considerably during the past several seasons, as he worked his way onto many Norris Trophy ballots.

“It’s always been there for him. He’s always been good offensively, it’s just starting to click now,” said Makar. “Defensively, he’s really sound too. When he finds those areas offensively, he can really create havoc. He’s a really fun player to watch and he’s one of the best D in the league.”

There’s definitely a mutual admiration society element when it comes to Morrissey, Makar and Hughes.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel sees some similarities when it comes to Morrissey and Hughes.

“Yeah, they’re an awful lot alike,” said Arniel. “The thing about them is they always had the offensive dynamic, you know, just the ability to change a game whether it’s with a rush or offensive cycle. But the thing for me with both players is that they’re taking on the defensive side of things.

“It’s one thing to be an offensive defenceman in this league, but to take the responsibility like they both do to go out and play against the other team’s top offensive line. We’ve seen Josh killing penalties, as I know (Hughes) does for Vancouver. You can count on them in all situations, and it’s why they’re on the ice somewhere between 23 and 26 minutes a night.”

Having a minute-munching D-man who can skate and be active on the rush while not bringing a high-risk profile is a bit of a rarity, but those are boxes both Morrissey and Hughes check off.

“He’s a very elusive skater on the blue line,” said Morrissey, asked about the subtleties of Hughes’s game that he appreciates. “Obviously, when he gets the puck, he’s tough to contain up top and just his ability to spin off guys and make something out of nothing on the blue line is really dangerous. Over the last number of years, you’ve seen the growth and evolution in the game itself and for a defenceman like that, it’s a great time to be that style of player.”

Morrissey’s strides have been similar.

From breaking into the NHL beside Dustin Byfuglien to playing more of a shutdown role along with Jacob Trouba, Morrissey is now quarterbacking the top power play in the NHL and that’s coincided with a significant rise in offensive production.

That he’s been able to combine that with sound defensive play is an impressive feat, but Morrissey isn’t someone satisfied with the status quo — even when he’s delivering at an elite level.

Included in the chatter about the present-day D-men was a question about the past and valuable lessons learned along the way.

In that sense, Morrissey was reminded the run to the 2018 Western Conference final — where the Jets ended up earning nine Stanley Cup playoff victories but were ultimately seven shy of the ultimate goal — lingers as a not-so-subtle reminder of just how hard it is to win at this level.

“You remember hearing guys talking, when we made the conference final, guys were eight, 10, 12 years in their career, (about) how hard it is to get there,” said Morrissey. “As a young guy it’s hard to realize how difficult that is to get to that level and get to that point. And obviously now here, I think it’s my ninth season and that’s the closest I got was year two, right?

“So obviously you have to keep pushing every single year and that ultimate goal is to be able to win a Stanley Cup. But definitely it’s a very tough league and competitive league and when you have good opportunities you definitely can’t waste them, and that’s probably what I’ve learned.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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