How Winnipeg Jets’ Josh Morrissey arrived at the best version of his game

WINNIPEG — Josh Morrissey’s career trajectory is one of the more stunning arcs in the NHL right now. 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. 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. 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.