Morrissey's return means the Jets will their full defense corps intact to begin the playoffs. Dustin Byfuglien had missed 34 of 39 games since Dec. 30 and March 29 after two separate lower-body injuries. Byfuglien has been back playing with Ben Chiarot, while Tyler Myers has been with Dmitry Kulikov.
The Jets relied heavily on Nathan Beaulieu, who they acquired from the Buffalo Sabres at the NHL Trade Deadline, and rookie Sami Niku during Morrisey's absence.
Coach Paul Maurice said Morrissey had been asking to play during the Jets' four-game road trip that ended the regular season, but the decision was made to hold him out.
"He's ready to go," Maurice said. "With the group that we have on our back end, it's not the typical hard match where we're pulling defensemen off the ice anyway. He goes in and plays; we monitor shift length more than minutes."
Maurice said he liked Beaulieu's play and that it won't be easy if he has to scratch him from Game 1.
"He's played really hard and helped us win some games," Maurice said.
Morrissey believes he can step right back into his role, even with the added playoff intensity. Managing his emotions, he said, will be the hardest part.
"When you get on the ice in Game 1 of the playoffs, the emotion goes to another level that you haven't seen all year," he said. "That adrenaline's firing. So I think it'll be more so trying to keep it simple, not trying to do too much. Just try to get back into the rhythm of things as fast as possible ... falling on the little details of your game that make any players successful."