WINNIPEG - Josh Morrissey is a foundational piece and a player the Winnipeg Jets chose to build their defence corps around.
That’s why the Calgary product was signed to an eight-year, $50 million contract extension in September of 2019.
And it’s why the Jets made Morrissey an alternate captain last season.
Whether it was the revolving door of defence partners he had this season, the pressure associated with having to try and live up to the new deal or the increased responsibility that came with anchoring a defence corps that has gone through a massive overhaul over the past two seasons, there were some tough times for Morrissey to work his way through.
But while some folks were prematurely predicting the rough patches as foreshadowing for a decline in his play, Morrissey was unwavering in his belief and that allowed him to get back to the high standard he’d set for himself.
The culmination of those efforts led to Morrissey emerging as one of the most important players on the ice as the Jets secured a four-game sweep of the Edmonton Oilers in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Individually, I've always said I'm just trying to work on my game, continue to get better every day and try to push myself to new elements and continue to improve,” said Morrissey, who scored the tying goal in Game 3 and finished with four points in four games while averaging just under 30 minutes of ice time in the series. “And that's all I'm trying to do. It's the playoffs, so everyone tries to raise their game. It’s the most important time of the year to be able to bring your best stuff.”
That’s not always easy to do when an essential part of the job includes going up against the best players on the opposition.
Occasionally that means ending up on the wrong side of a highlight-reel goal.
While that comes with the territory, it doesn’t make things any easier to digest — especially when things aren’t going smoothly.
Rather than getting bogged down by frustration, Morrissey dug in and worked his way through the challenging stretches.
“For me, nothing's really changed,” Morrissey said. “But I'm just trying to bring my best game here in the playoffs, and I think that's a great part of the playoffs, it's an opportunity for everyone to step up and bring your best game and, thankfully, the first round went really well for us.
“You work really hard and we’ve all worked really hard during the year to put ourselves in the position to be in the best shape as possible. To be able to play a lot of minutes. Our defence as a whole was solid and outstanding throughout the first round, with big contributions from everybody. Physically, on an individual level, every player wants to have the opportunity to play as much as you can and sort of run with that. I certainly relish that opportunity.”
True to form, Morrissey was quick to praise his defence partner and the rest of his fellow blue-liners for stepping up in the opening round, even when many of the questions being asked were designed to shine the spotlight on his individual play.
“It was an opportunity to play against two of the best players in the world,” said Morrissey, referring to junior teammate Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. “I thought as a team we did a really solid job. (Dylan DeMelo) played awesome. And as a partnership, we found a new chemistry level that we haven't had before. Not that it hasn't been there, but I think it just went to another level.”
While Morrissey preferred to deflect, his teammates ensured some compliments were sent his way.
“He was amazing all over the ice and a difference-maker in every area,” DeMelo said. “Super confident and his skating was excellent and his stick was really good, ended a lot of plays and blocked a lot of shots. A leader on our back end and a leader of our team, and he led every game and he played so well. Happy to be a partner with him and maybe help him a little bit, but I think in his own right he did an awesome job."
DeMelo’s defence partner wasn’t the only one joining the chorus.
“Great,” said Jets forward Andrew Copp, when asked to describe Morrissey’s play in the opening round. “That’s a lot of times where you see 29 and 97 coming at you. Those are two of the best players in the game. He did a great job against them five-on-five.
“Then for him to chip in offensively the way he did — he created three big goals in the last two games specifically that I can think of off the top of my head. It was a fantastic series for him. I’m sure he’s got a lot of confidence right now, as he should.”
It’s easy to quantify the value of Morrissey playing with that level of confidence as the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue.
“You don’t have to go and convince Josh that he played well. He’s a veteran guy now that understands what he and Dylan were able to do,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “He had seven shot blocks in the last game and produced offence as well. In the past playoff rounds, he and Jacob Trouba were tasked with the other team’s top line and that was almost all we could hope for from them and he delivered. And then in this round, he did both.
“He and Dylan did just a marvelous job on two of the elite scorers in the world and also put some numbers up. We think he has a strong understanding of the evolution of his game.”
This was less of a revelation and more of a return to form for Morrissey, who was a model of consistency early in his career in a complementary role while continuing to push for increased responsibility.
The impact of Morrissey being reunited with DeMelo was undeniable.
DeMelo’s smarts and decision-making meshed perfectly with Morrissey.
Their reads were precise, their positioning was exquisite, and their vision and passing ability helped the Jets get the puck moving up ice on countless occasions.
“I don't know if it was one thing. We just played extremely hard,” DeMelo said. “We were both really assertive in our play and we knew the matchup was coming and we didn't shy down from it. I think we just took it as a challenge and kind of wanted to prove everybody wrong that we could handle it — not just us two but I think as a whole D-corps and a whole team.
“We heard that outside noise and we thought that we could ruin some people's playoff pools. I think the guys really stepped up and took that opportunity and ran with it. (Connor Hellebuyck) was unbelievable, our forward group did an amazing job of doing the right things and playing hard and not giving easy ice.”
If those things continue, the Jets could have another opportunity to potentially ruin a few more of those playoff pools, especially if a highly anticipated matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs materializes in the second round.
