WINNIPEG — Josh Morrissey’s career trajectory is one of the more stunning arcs in the NHL right now.
He broke into the NHL in 2016-17 as a ready-made second-pairing defenceman, partnering with Dustin Byfuglien to play high-leverage top-four minutes. Morrissey’s job was to be the defensive conscious for his famously wild-roving partner; even as a 21-year-old rookie, he seemed ready for it.
When the Winnipeg Jets made the Western Conference final the following season, Morrissey was playing a top-four role again — this time with Jacob Trouba. Together they excelled against Nashville’s top line in a seven-game, second-round series win. The Morrissey-Trouba pair did it all over again in 2018-19 (although they were interrupted by Morrissey’s upper-body injury the night before the trade deadline).
Then the wheels came off. The Jets lost Trouba, Byfuglien, Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot the following season. Morrissey was partnered with prospect defenceman Tucker Poolman while other regularly used defencemen on that team included Anthony Bitetto, Luca Sbisa and Nathan Beaulieu. Health has played a factor for Poolman but none of those players are in the NHL anymore. As Winnipeg’s team defence suffered, Morrissey’s performance suffered as well, but the worst was yet to come.
Morrissey’s dad Tom was diagnosed with brain cancer prior to the 2020-21 season. The personal news was hard enough — perhaps the most difficult journey of Morrissey’s life. The professional side was difficult, too: Morrissey’s biggest fear at a pre-vaccine time of COVID-19 was bringing the virus home to a dad whose radiation and chemotherapy treatments weakened his immune system.
As friends and teammates were preparing for the 2021 season in groups, Morrissey worked out at home and skated on a small sheet of ice at his friend’s barn just outside of Calgary.
“It was a cool setup but it was about the size of maybe half a zone — whether the offensive zone or D-zone, whichever way you want to look at it,” Morrissey said in 2022. “That was the best I could do. I knew a bunch of guys who were having more normal skates but putting yourself at a little more risk of getting COVID and I wanted to be able to see my dad. I needed to be able to see him do certain things that he couldn’t do or help him out.”
Tom died in August 2021. His continued encouragement of Morrissey’s growth helped make 2021-22 a return to form. Of course, there are so many more things that go into it. Morrissey’s mom, Bev Jarvis stepped up. Morrissey changed trainers, not just getting back to where he was before taking a step back but surpassing previous marks in agility and explosiveness. He scored a career-high 37 points in 79 games for the 2021-22 Jets — then more than doubled it with 76 points the following season, emerging as an elite offensive threat at even strength and on the power play. His underlying numbers had gone from that of a third-pairing defenceman (or worse, by some metrics) in 2020-21 to those befitting a Norris Trophy contender.
And yet even as Morrissey’s offensive production fell to 69 points last season — and as he fell from fifth in 2023 Norris Trophy voting to seventh in 2024 — he got better as an all-around player. His defensive impact soared.
Morrissey recently sat down with The Athletic to share the reasons for his growth — what he talks about with his coaches, his training, the metrics they focus on and the wisdom that he’d most want to share with young defencemen looking to recreate his journey into the top 10 in the world at his position.
I think a lot of people are still caught up in your points explosion. I’m not sure if everyone has realized you made a big defensive improvement last season. How did you do it?
When I first came into the league, I was primarily in a defensive role: the PK and some five-on-five. I also had a couple of years I don’t really judge too much just with COVID and family stuff going on but, since then, I’ve taken a step forward in my offensive game. The first year this staff came in, they really pushed me to play more offensive and be aggressive and I think it coincided with my game being in a good place when they asked it of me. I also think our team game, defensively, took a big step forward last year.
Personally, I want to be a great all-around defenceman. I want to be counted on offensively, defensively, in all situations. I still think that’s what qualifies as the best defenceman in the league. It’s not just points. It’s both. You have to do both to be that guy. I think I was six points shy last year of the year prior but all of my defensive numbers … My coaches show me my defensive numbers and the metrics that they look at, the analytic areas that they look at. The whole team improved and I improved substantially from the year before, too. I think it’s just attention to detail at both ends of the ice and then picking your spots — not trying to force something when it’s not there and not trying to get ahead of the play. They always talked to me that, with my skating and how I read the game, I don’t have to get ahead of it. I can let it develop and then go and still be plenty active offensively. All of those things and then our overall team game evolved, too.
What are the metrics that your coaches show you to reinforce your defensive play?
The big thing as a team that we wanted to cut down was slot shots. We did a better job of that last season. Individually, the controlling of chances for and against when you’re on the ice, everyone views it differently but I think that’s a solid indicator — especially when you’re playing against top players. How much of that play are you helping influence positively? Whether that’s not being in your own end or less shots, less chances against. Can we close it off defensively as fast as possible? Can we spend as little time in our end as we possibly can? That allows your offensive players to do their thing. I think the biggest thing was trying to end it as fast as I could in the D-zone and then get it going the other way. The main metrics that they’re looking at are chances for and against, Grade A quality chances, and trying to limit those.
Morrissey’s defensive rating soared last season, via Dom Luszczyszyn’s model — with minimal offensive sacrifices
I wonder about the “inside baseball” of it all. Are there specific reads you look at in the offseason as opportunities for improvement?
Yeah, I think so. Let’s just say you went out there in a game and were like, “I’m not going to take any risk offensively. I’m going to play it safe. If it’s a 50-50 yes or no, I’m definitely saying no. If it’s 60 (percent) yes, 40 no, I’m still saying no.” Like, what is your risk profile?
Whether it’s jumping up, pinching, trying to get a shot through as opposed to just putting it behind the net, dumping it versus holding onto it, trying to make a pass up versus chipping it off the glass … All of the places you can possibly play on the ice, you can take let’s call it a safer read — a backing off read. I think that, while that’s the right play often — it could be the time of the game or who you’re out against, length of shift, all of those different things that process into that equation: “I should dump this puck or I should try to make a play or jump into the play,” all of those different things come into your head.
If you’re trying to produce offensively, you have to — it’s not increase the risk but it is, in a way it kind of is. You increase the offensive chance of something happening (for you) too. I think the big thing (for me) was getting up the ice more, making one extra read to try to make a play through the seam or holding onto it a little bit longer or having the confidence to try to beat someone one-on-one on the blue line, all of those things lead to offence. And I don’t think that all of those things that lead to offence… They don’t have to hurt your defence. When we looked back at my quote-unquote “breakout year,” all of those things that led to actual offence didn’t increase my defensive risk or make me worse defensively. The things (that impacted defence) were not getting rid of the puck in the D-zone or on a breakout.
Between myself and Arnie (Scott Arniel), heading into last season, what do I want to improve at? Obviously: everything. But specifically, keep the offence and don’t lose the defence. Or keep the offence and get better on D. That’s what we tried. Again, we got better as a team defensively and I probably benefited from that, too, but I think I was a big part of that as well.
I would like to force an analogy now. Tell me if this fits or not but I’m thinking about changing lanes when there’s a car one lane over from you. I used to almost always get into that lane by putting on the brakes and sliding behind the car. Eventually, I realized that if I stayed in the right gear I could also step on the gas and get in front of that car, too — that I’d have more luck if I gave myself the option to go fast or slow and then decide in the moment.
I think everything that I think about during the game, there’s kind of a percentage “yay” or “nay.” That’s how I’ve always thought about the game. Late in the game, when you’re down by a goal, third period, risk goes up, pinching goes up, trying to make a play goes up, etc. Whereas if you’re up by one with five minutes left, that probably changes things, too. It’s a similar analogy, yes, but I think it was about keeping the offence while being really proactive in trying to defend as well as I could every single day. That sounds like you’re going out there sometimes and not trying to defend. That’s not what I’m saying. Arnie calls it “taking pride in all areas of the game.” As opposed to doing your job in the D-zone, trying to do a great job if that makes sense. How can I get a little bit better defensively? How can I break it out a little bit quicker? What do some of the guys who are really good one-on-one defenders do? Just keeping that knowledge. Sometimes it’s going to ebb and flow either way but what I learned was that some of what I was creating on offence wasn’t going to impact my defensive game.
I’ve spoken to young defencemen about growing into full-time jobs or top-four jobs. They talk about how the next step is chaining multiple reads together — about making the stop and then seeing the breakout pass and then seeing the skating route to take. It sounds like you’re processing at a level of detail well beyond even that. Looking at your own development, how did you get from A to B?
I think a lot of it is reps. It’s practice. It’s repetition, it’s the mindset. It’s thinking about it. It’s watching others that you think do it better than you. And then we’re obviously in an industry where it’s about winning hockey games and executing. So it’s about understanding your leash. Let’s say you toe-drag someone at the blue line. If you pull it off, you’re a hero. If you don’t pull it off, you’d better have some leash. If you don’t pull it off, that might not be good for you. I think that’s where understanding where you’re at in your game, where you’re at with your coaches, where you’re at with your role. Like, if you just got back in the lineup after being scratched for a couple of nights, I wouldn’t say don’t try it but maybe it’s more of a make-or-break “yay or nay,” do you know what I mean? Kyle Connor probably has a little more rope to make that play, but if he (doesn’t make) it twice in a row, he’ll hear about it from Arnie. You earn that rope or that leeway from executing — from making the play a number of times.
What I would say to those young guys who are trying to advance their game is, “What is the game you want to be? Who do you want to be?” If you want to go from bottom pair to the top four or whatever your (goal) is, how does that game look? What does that game mean? How would you be in that role — and what does that role require? Just do that, then. If that role requires good breakout passes, good net front play, a little bit of PK, maybe power play, maybe not, what does that role entail? And just be good at that. It sounds simple — it’s obviously a lot more difficult — but you understand what I’m saying. What is that role? Do it. If that’s what the job description is, then that’s what you have to be able to do. Figure out from practicing, from watching other guys that do that role, how to be that guy. And just do that. Don’t go into it thinking you’re going to be a shutdown defenceman and try to play like Erik Karlsson. That’s not the role that’s required. That’s not who you should be. That’s how my development went.
(Photo: Justin Berl / Getty Images)
