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DESPITE THE FACT HE’S been one of the bigger storylines of this season, saying Josh Morrissey has come out of nowhere would be just plain wrong. Morrissey was a first-round draft pick who had already filled his trophy case with gold medals at the under-18s and World Junior Championship, and he won a WHL championship and spent just one year in the minors before becoming a full-timer with the Winnipeg Jets.

But you can understand why some are doing a double-take this year. Morrissey had never compiled more than 37 points in a season, but he’s on pace to nearly double that production, and a Winnipeg team that seemed destined for mediocrity has instead become the sort of team you don’t want to see in the first round of the playoffs.

So what has led to the 27-year-old’s rise on the blueline? It’s never just one thing, but Morrissey’s jump into the Norris Trophy conversation has been aided by the lessons he has learned throughout his NHL career, the new system introduced by coach Rick Bowness and the guidance he has received from a Hall of Famer known for his puck skills in Adam Oates. Not to mention the fact Morrissey is really, really good. “I mean, it speaks for itself, his nickname is ‘Josh Norrissey’ right now, isn’t it?” said goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. “He’s got my first vote. He’s been incredible in front of me, at both ends of the ice. A lot of these awards get looked at analytically and how many points you get, but if you really look at his game and how much he controls the game in our end and how much easier he makes my life, bar none, there isn’t another guy I’d rather have on my team.”

Drafted by the Jets 13th overall in 2013, Morrissey spent most of his time in junior with the Prince Albert Raiders before a trade to the Kelowna Rockets ended his career with a WHL championship (he was joined on both squads by future Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl).

Once he joined the Jets full time for the 2016-17 campaign, Morrissey found himself on a blueline corps that can only be described as ‘Defenseman University,’ filled with veterans of varying skill sets. Dustin Byfuglien carried the biggest load back then, followed by Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers and Toby Enstrom. Fast-forward six years, and it’s Morrissey playing an average of two minutes more per game than any other Winnipeg defenseman. “It definitely looks different,” he said. “My first couple years, we had Buff, Myers, Toby Enstrom, Trouba, Ben Chiarot, Mark Stuart, just a veteran corps, and I was the young guy learning from them and trying to find minutes. Time goes fast in this league. I feel like I just blinked and all of a sudden I’m in my seventh year. I’m trying to take the lessons I learned from those guys and keep growing as a leader and a teammate.”

I MEAN IT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF, HIS NICKNAME IS ‘JOSH NORRISSEY’ RIGHT NOW, ISN’T IT?– Connor Hellebuyck

Byfuglien was an obvious touchstone, even if he was a bit of a unicorn in terms of an NHL profile. When Morrissey started working with Oates in the off-season, the skills coach (and one of the best playmakers the sport has ever seen – just ask Brett Hull) made sure to expand his client’s mind when it came to the possibilities in front of him. “When we first met, he played with Dustin Byfuglien, and ‘Buff’ was a fantastic player,” Oates said. “So I would use him as an example, ‘When you watch Buff, what do you see?’

“When you look at Josh now, he’s running the power play, and maybe three years ago, people wouldn’t have thought of him in that role. To me, that’s a player who has grown, and the coaching staff this year has taken him to another level.”

Morrissey had put up numbers in junior, most notably a 73-point effort for Prince Albert in his post-draft year. So the talent was there, and it was obvious to those who worked with him. It was just a matter of unlocking that door. “He’s an elite skater with really good hockey sense, and he’s a very good hockey player,” Oates said. “The way I look at it, I’m trying to help a guy one percent. He was already in the NHL before he met me, so I’m trying to give him one more percent. That’s all I ever looked for when I played.”

HE’S AN ELITE SKATER WITH REALLY GOOD HOCKEY SENSE, AND HE’S A VERY GOOD HOCKEY PLAYER– Adam Oates

The time spent with Oates over the years has been a benefit to the skill side of the defenseman’s game in particular. “Working with him has helped me take my offensive game and my puck game to another level,” Morrissey said. “There are still a lot of things I’m trying to get better at, but I would attribute my improvement with the puck with that.”

Oates, who coached in the NHL with Tampa Bay, Washington and New Jersey, is looking to help Morrissey think the game at a high level. “At the end of the day, a coach wants success, he wants execution, he wants his system to be working,” Oates said. “So when you watch a player’s video, most guys do 90 percent correct and 10 percent bad. So what is the bad? If a coach wants a player to get a puck out now, get it out now. But that requires skill, doesn’t it? More than most people think. Maybe the puck is bouncing or spinning. What if a defenseman is in your way? There are subplots to every decision you make. So it’s about reads and thinking the game.”

And, of course, the No. 1 job of a defenseman is to not get scored on. Heading into March, Morrissey had a goals-for percentage of 54.5 when playing at 5-on-5, the exact same mark as reigning Norris winner Cale Makar in Colorado. “The No. 1 thing we talked about is that he’s still a defenseman, and you’ve got to play defense,” Oates said. “The better you play in your end, it’s going to show up in the other end. One of the players I like, and I’ve never even met him, is Erik Karlsson. People think of him as an offensive wizard, but if you watch him play, he also breaks his team out, and he doesn’t get credit for that. I’ve said that to Josh, ‘Break your team out. The better you can get the puck out and to your forwards earlier, the more it will help you.’ So that’s part of the strategy.”

It just so happens that breaking the puck out quickly and effectively is something the Jets have been all about this season under new coach Bowness. While ‘Bones’ had made his, well, bones in Dallas as a defensive mastermind, the Jets have actually been a lot more fun since he took over in the off-season. And he was well aware of what Morrissey could do. “Part of our pre-scout was always Josh Morrissey,” Bowness said. “Elite skater, elite hockey IQ, outstanding skill. I had a ton of respect for him as a player even before I had the chance to coach him.”

Under Bowness, Winnipeg has pushed the pace a lot more, and that has been a boon for the slick-skating Morrissey. Now the team attacks more as a five-man unit, and whether Morrissey is near the front of that charge or covering the back, he sees how Bowness’ system has made the most of Winnipeg’s fast and skilled lineup. “I’m playing with a lot of confidence,” Morrissey said. “I try to work on my game all the time, but the new systems we put in this year really benefit my game and our team game. Our defense has a lot of good skaters. We’ve tried to get more aggressive, and, subsequently, that has benefitted me for sure.”

As a goaltender, Hellebuyck has seen Morrissey’s flipped switch from his crease. “He’s always had the skill and the talent and has always shown it,” he said. “But with our system now, he has just flourished. Everyone knows their role and where to let their skill come out. That’s where he’s really doing the best, letting himself just play and show off his talent. Knowing his role, knowing where he needs to cover and doing it to the best of his ability. His understanding of the game right now is so above everyone else.”

ELITE SKATER, ELITE HOCKEY IQ, OUTSTANDING SKILL. I HAD A TON OF RESPECT FOR HIM AS A PLAYER EVEN BEFORE I HAD THE CHANCE TO COACH HIM– Rick Bowness

Funny enough, there wasn’t a lot of roster upheaval in the summer – it’s mainly the same cast who struggled last season and finished eight points out of a wild-card berth. “It was a much better team than it showed last year,” Bowness said. “Being with Dallas, it was always a tough rink to come into and a hard team to play against, but that wasn’t the case last year. They had lost their way for whatever reason, but I knew there were a lot of good pieces there that hopefully we could turn around in the right direction.”

The new coach did shake things up when he arrived, however. Taking the captaincy away from Blake Wheeler was the big headline, but, structurally, Bowness was more about building up. He saw that last year’s Jets weren’t getting nearly enough goals or points from the defense, and unleashing Morrissey would go a long way to fixing that. Bowness’ arrival also gave the team’s core a chance for a refresh. “We all came in and checked our egos at the door,” Hellebuyck said. “Not that our culture was bad, but we’re going to really make sure our culture is fun. We wanted to work. Right away, we were sticking to the process, and that led into some early-season success. We were getting confidence, and then we were having a blast coming to the rink. It was just so fun to be around, and we were enjoying our time. One thing led to another.”

And while the Jets had a bit of a swoon in late February, the team does have the elements to be a nasty playoff matchup: Hellebuyck is one of the league’s best netminders, Morrissey will surely get Norris votes, and Winnipeg has a solid 1-2 punch down the middle with Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Add in dangerous wingers Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers and the newly acquired Nino Niederreiter and you’ve got something. Most importantly, though, the Jets seem to have their groove back. “It feels great,” Morrissey said. “Last year was disappointing all around. We always felt we had a good team with a lot of talent, and it just didn’t come together for us. Obviously, there were a lot of questions in the off-season about what would happen, whether there would be big moves, and those are all things out of your control as a player. At the same time, it’s exciting that management kept the group together, made some big additions, and collectively our organization took a deep breath in the off-season and got back to work, believing in the group we had.”

If you believe in skill and the ability of a defenseman to change the complexion of a game, then keep your eyes on Morrissey and the Jets. It’s been a long and bumpy road, and they’re not at the top yet, but with the blueliner’s breakout year helping them in a tight Western Conference, Winnipeg can take comfort in the fact that one of their top talents has been fully unleashed. Now it’s time to make a run.

Josh Morrissey has almost doubled his career-best production, averaging nearly a point per game this season.