Morrissey's flying start earns recognition from NHL

Let's run back the last seven days for Josh Morrissey.
Last Monday he scored twice against the Carolina Hurricanes, including the overtime winner, to send the fans home happy from Canada Life Centre.
Two nights later in Minnesota, he assisted on Winnipeg's lone goal in a loss to their divisional rivals at Xcel Energy Center.
Friday night, after a controversial game-tying goal from the Dallas Stars, Morrissey took a pass from Blake Wheeler in the Jets end and flew down the ice, burying his second overtime winner of the week.
Then, he capped it off on Sunday with three assists - tying the franchise record for assists in a game by a defenceman - as the Jets trounced the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2.
Add it all up, and Morrissey had three goals and seven points in four games. That tops all NHL defencemen.
And yet, earning the National Hockey League's Second Star of the Week seems to be just the beginning for Morrissey - or, Josh Norrissey, as he's becoming referred to on Jets social media chatter.

The 27-year-old, who was named the team's 2022 Bill Masterton Trophy nominee at the conclusion of last season, is off to a spectacular start this season with 23 points in 20 games - tied for the third most among defencemen. He's been held off the scoresheet just four times, and just once in the month of November. Of those 23 points, 19 are assists, giving him the third most helpers in the NHL among blue liners.
Incredibly, he's accomplishing all this averaging 23:08 of ice time per night, which puts him 35th on the list of league defencemen.
"At the end of the season, and this is what I told him, when there's a discussion of who the top 10 D are for the Norris Trophy voting, I want to see his name in there," Jets head coach Rick Bowness said after the win over Carolina. "He's taken great pride in that."
As he should.
From the start of training camp, there has been a buy-in from defencemen and forwards to a new system. One of the aspects of that system is increasing how active the Jets defencemen are in the offence, something they can only do if the forwards are in a proper support position.
It's evident at five-on-five play with defencemen joining the rush and providing another layer of attack. Morrissey's goal in regulation against Carolina was an example, as he joined a rush and beat Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov to put the Jets up 3-0.

His skating has always been one of his greatest assets. It was on display on that goal, and even more so on the overtime winner in Dallas, as he took advantage of Stars forward Jason Robertson being stuck on defence in overtime, and flew past him for a partial break before beating Jake Oettinger.
"J-Mo is an elite skater so you get him into open space, he's a handful," said Wheeler. 'He's scored a couple of big goals for us the last few games and that was a big moment."
As good off a skater as he is, he's always working to be better. He spent the past off-season adding a bit more explosiveness to his stride. Off the ice, he's nailed down a routine to stay loose and mobile.
"There's always little elements you can improve on skating-wise," he said. "I think a lot of it comes from the system but also stuff you do off the ice to either be strong but also move well and have that fluidity throughout your body and not be rigid."
The defenceman always credits his teammates as a big part of his success as well. He's been paired with Neal Pionk and Dylan DeMelo this season, and is part of a Jets power play that found the back of the net twice against Chicago on Sunday.
His teammates see a whole bunch of confidence in Morrissey these days.
"That makes a big difference, and all the confidence from the staff to believe in us as defencemen to get up in the play," said Nate Schmidt. "He has that ability to go up and be offensive and make more than just the one-and-done play. He's been moving and grooving in the offensive zone, and it's been fun to watch."

And for Bowness, watching the work Morrissey puts into being his very best is just as entertaining.
"His work ethic is exceptional. He's playing the way I remember coaching against him a couple of years ago," Bowness said. "He's dominant with the puck, he's an elite skater, elite hockey IQ, and he's got the green light to use both of those."