Hello Norris Trophy conversation: here comes Josh Morrissey.
After a fairly quiet January, the Jets’ top blueliner has exploded and is getting himself right back into the conversation for the NHL’s top defender.
Morrissey Ramping Up Production Down the Stretch Of “Encore Season”
Let’s get something unfortunate out of the way right off the top. The 28-year-old — who finished fifth in Norris Trophy voting last season when he exploded for 76 points thanks to his new head coach putting more trust in him to jump into the play — probably isn’t going to win the award this season.
The Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes is the clear front runner as he leads all NHL defenders in points with 71 and is undeniably one of the league’s most impactful d-men with his modern skill set that proves defenders don’t have to be huge to be good anymore. The Colorado Avalanche’s Cale Makar and the New York Islanders’ Noah Dobson are also considered strong contenders.
Related: 2023-24 Norris Trophy Tracker: February Update
However, at the midpoint of the season in mid-January, the NHL’s Norris Trophy Tracker had Morrissey ranked sixth; based on his play since then, he should be on the rise.
The Norris Trophy is supposed to be awarded to the defender who showcases the “greatest all-round ability in the position,” but it most often just goes to the most offensively prolific. Morrissey has been that since the beginning of February: he has one goal and 15 assists in his last 13 games, three three-assist games, and six multi-point games. He is now up to eight goals and 43 assists for 51 points, good for seventh in the NHL among defensemen and was just named the NHL’s third star of the week for the week ending March 3.
That comes after a January where he had just four assists in 12 games. “I felt, honestly, there’s been a lot of times this year, especially from Christmas to the bye week (prior to the All-Star Game) I was playing really well and I couldn’t buy a point. Sometimes it comes in bunches”, Morrissey said recently. (From ‘Morrissey is making magnificence mundane,’ Winnipeg Free Press, Feb. 25, 2024.)
Morrissey Exhibits Elite Skillset in Jets’ Comeback Wins
Morrissey’s fingerprints were all over the Jets’ pair of impressive come-from-behind victories against the Carolina Hurricanes and against the Buffalo Sabres on March 2 and 3, respectively: he had three assists in the third period against the Hurricanes, including a splendid one with three guys draped on him on Mark Scheifele’s game-tying power play goal. He scored the game-tying goal against the Sabres in the third period despite being aggressively hooked by Henri Jokiharju, and also had a slick assist on Nino Niederreiter’s first-period buzzer beater.
Those clutch individual plays and multi-point nights are just the outward signs, though, of someone operating at an exceptionally high level on both sides of the puck. The Jets simply wouldn’t own a 39-16-5 record or be locked in a battle for first place in the Central Division without him patrolling the blue line.
Morrissey does so many things well in every zone, making plays Scheifele recently called “unheralded,” especially ones in his own end “that not a lot of people will see.” His ability to quickly kill a play and transition to offence is a marvel to watch, as are his skating (especially his signature “walk the line” move) and puck-handling skills. Something good seems to happen almost every time he touches the puck.
Morrissey’s Value Goes Far Beyond Point Totals
Morrissey’s 51 points are all the more impressive considering 39 of them have come at even strength. He does not depend on mainly power-play production to boost his stats like Makar (28 power play points out of 64 total) Hughes (27 power play points of 71 total) and Dobson (23 power play points out of 63 total.)
But Morrissey’s value goes far beyond his point totals. He is putting up the best possession metrics of his career, with his all-strength CORSI For percentage above 56 and his all-strength Fenwick For percentage above 57 (both those numbers are best on the Jets.) His on-ice expected goals percentage is 58 per cent, he has only been on the ice for 48 of the Jets’ 144 goals against (33 per cent) despite being on the ice for 49.7 per cent of the team’s 2926 total minutes played, is averaging a career-high 24:17 of average ice time, and owns a plus-23 rating, 21 better than last season.
Locked up for four more seasons after this one at $6.25 million, he’s a downright bargain. As per the latest Athletic player card, he’s providing $6.5 million in surplus value. Yes, his surplus value is higher than his actual salary.
Like we said at the top, Morrissey will probably not win the Norris Trophy unless his final 22 games are truly ridiculous. However, if he keeps up his torrid pace, he should be a lock for another top-five finish. More important than where he finishes in voting, though, are the impacts he’ll look to have for the rest of the regular season and ideally during a deep Stanley Cup run.
We’ll leave the last words to Rick Bowness, the man most responsible for encouraging Morrissey and unlocking the dominance on display today.
“He’s been unreal at both ends of the ice,” Bowness said after the victory against the Sabres. “He plays so many important minutes against the best lines, the power play. He never disappoints you. He always seems to have that ability to rise to the occasion that’s needed, whether that’s a really good defensive play or joining the rush and making the big goal he did tonight. So He’s an elite athlete with elite competitive skills.”