How Jets' Josh Morrissey can be a secret weapon for Canada at 4 Nations

WINNIPEG — Rewind to three years ago. Who would’ve thought Josh Morrissey would represent Canada in a best-on-best tournament? 

Put your hand down. 

Well, unless you’re Rick Bowness. He can keep his hand up. 

The former Winnipeg Jets coach isn’t a fortune teller — he didn’t envision a 4 Nations Face-off — but he played a huge role in Morrissey becoming an elite defenceman. 

Bowness, who spent six years coaching against him with the Dallas Stars, always believed Morrissey had untapped offensive potential. Before the 2022-23 season, his first with Winnipeg, Bowness sat Morrissey down and showed him a series of clips where the now 29-year-old opted to make a safer play instead of a riskier one that could’ve generated offence.

The message was simple: The Jets gave Morrissey the green light to make plays. 

And that he did. 

Since Bowness’s pep talk, Morrissey ranks third in assists (140), fourth in points (168) and second in even strength points (112) among all NHL defencemen. While he may not be a marquee name like most of the players on Team Canada, he could end up surprising people once again. This time, on a much bigger stage.

“He’s the perfect fit for that team,” Bowness told Sportsnet.ca in a Monday afternoon phone conversation. “When you get into a short tournament like this, you need as much skill as you can put on a team. You need defencemen that have the skating ability and the puck skills to get the puck up to the forwards. That’s (Morrissey’s) strength. He’s an elite skater. He’s got elite skills. And he’s got a tremendous hockey IQ. He’s exactly what they need.”

It’s no secret that Canada’s backbone will be their forwards. And for a high-octane offence like Canada’s — highlighted by the likes of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby — to reach its full potential, they’ll need elite puck-moving defencemen who can make smart plays under pressure. 

Adam Oates — a Hockey Hall-of-Famer turned skills guru who trains Morrissey and other star talents in the summer — believes Morrissey is elite at retrieving pucks in the defensive zone and transitioning the puck up the ice. 

“It’s the hardest play in hockey,” Oates told Sportsnet.ca on Tuesday morning. “You’ve got a guy chasing you and you somehow have to get that under control, make a read as to what direction you’re going to go with it and it all happens at a high speed. He’s fantastic at it.”

According to data tracked by AllThreeZones.com, Morrissey converts 60.8 percent of his puck retrievals into zone exits — which places him in the 90th percentile among defencemen who have played at least 150:00 five-on-five minutes since last season. 

That's a valuable skill in a tournament where he'll face off against the best players in the world.

“You’re only playing a couple of games and every mistake is going to be magnified. And it could cost games,” Bowness said. “That’s why you need defencemen back there, like Josh, who can get the puck and get it out of your zone as quick as you can. You’re going to be playing against elite teams and they will make you pay for every mistake.”

Morrissey isn’t prone to making mistakes. Sure, Morrissey can produce on the power play, join the rush and he’s not afraid to make the odd gamble — but he’s very methodical in his approach. 

“He doesn’t play a high-risk game at all,” Bowness said. “He relies on his hockey IQ.”

And contrary to what a quick scan of Hockeydb.com may tell you, labelling Morrissey as an “offensive defenceman” is shortsighted.

“His effort in all zones is high end,” one Western Conference scout told Sportsnet.ca. “Everything stems from that.”

He leverages his tools to kill plays off the rush, win board battles along the wall and his game, as a whole, is simplified. In a tournament like the 4 Nations Face-Off, where every several stars will be converted into role players, it’s imperative for an offensively-inclined blue-liner to possess those intangibles.

Mind you, we’re talking about a player who was lauded for his defensive abilities when he came into the league — shouldering heavy five-on-five minutes and penalty kill deployment with the Jets during their 2018 run to the Western Conference Finals. 

“He’s an all-purpose defenceman,” Oates said. 

Many outside of Winnipeg may chalk up the inclusion of Morrissey on the roster as just another offensive, puck-moving defenceman. Or rather, a big fish in a little pond. 

But after this tournament, anyone who underestimated Morrissey could find themselves pleasantly surprised. Just like everyone was after his 2022-23 breakout campaign.