Welcome back to one of the final Jets Nation year in reviews for the 2024-25 season. I’ve covered some of the key players already, and after this one on Josh Morrissey I’ll be sure to cover Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi, Vladislav Namestnikov and Dylan DeMelo to round out the nine most “important” players on the Jets.

Before I go any further, I must say congrats to the Florida Panthers for winning the Stanley Cup last night. This year I was rooting for the Oilers in the finals (I wanted the Panthers to win last year), but it was clear that the Panthers were the team that deserved the championship. Shoutout to former Jets head coach Paul Maurice and the former Jets on the Panthers roster who helped contribute to another championship for Florida. Before looking ahead to the NHL entry draft and free agency, let’s look back at the season of the defenceman who continues to be the backbone of the Jets defence: Josh Morrissey.

As usual with these year in reviews, I refer in this part of the article to the player’s nickname(s). “Josh Norrissey” or “JoMo” had another wonderful season playing on the Jets top defence pairing with the defensive Dylan DeMelo. Fresh off his 9th full season with the Jets, the 30-year old from Calgary, Alberta has been an important member of the Jets since being drafted 13th overall in the 2013 NHL entry draft. It took a few seasons for Morrissey’s impact to really be felt, but ever since his breakout 76 point season in 2022-23, he’s been among the league’s most elite defencemen.

Josh Morrissey’s scoring ability has been unlocked in recent seasons partially due to him playing with a defensive partner in Dylan DeMelo. The chemistry of the Jets top defence pairing continues to improve, and this season Morrissey finished 4th on the Jets in scoring. In 80 regular season games, Morrissey scored 14 goals (2 away from his career high) and added 48 assists for 62 points. Morrissey finished with his 2nd lowest penalty minutes total, and he also had his 2nd best +/- with a +17. The playoffs were overall solid for Morrissey, and despite not scoring a goal, he finished with 6 assists in his 12 appearances.

Morrissey continues to provide very solid value with his current contract. JoMo’s current 8 year, $50 million deal is now in year 6, with an average annual value of $6.25 million. Morrissey won’t be a free agent until 2028 when he will be 33, which is good news for the Jets, as they have a lengthy list of current and upcoming unrestricted and restricted free agents. Morrissey’s next deal will likely be a shorter deal with more money, but the Jets likely won’t hesitate to re-sign Morrissey when the time comes if he continues to play the way he has in recent seasons.

Watching Morrissey in games this season, I think what gives him an edge over other defence in the league is his puck retrieval ability in the defensive zone. There were countless moments in the season where the Jets opponent would dump the puck down the ice from centre, and the next thing you would know Morrissey would have the puck and would send a brilliant pass up the ice that would soon lead to a Jets goal. On the powerplay, Morrissey is the “quaterback” of the Jets top unit, creating space and making passes to set up scoring chances for himself and his teammates. Morrissey has developed into an elite two-way defenceman, and his leadership skills have allowed him to become a favourite for fans and his teammates. The 4th place defence in the Norris Trophy voting will be back again with another strong season in 2025-26, and I’m intrigued to see what he can do as he enters the beginning of the 2nd half of his so far successful NHL career.