The countdown to the Winnipeg Jets 2025-26 home opener is now at Nino Niederreiter (62) days to go. It’s time now to continue the “goals and expectations” series for the upcoming season, as I’m shifting to the blue line for the next few players. Up first is Josh Morrissey, the Jets certified number one defenceman, a player who is widely considered a top 15 (maybe even top 10) defenceman in the NHL. The 2024-25 season was another big year for Morrissey, and he now prepares to enter his first NHL season in his 30s.

Morrissey was selected 13th overall in the 2013 NHL Draft by the Winnipeg Jets. After several years of development in the NHL, Morrissey’s big breakout season came back in 2022-23. After recording a career high 37 points in the 2021-22 season, Morrissey went out and over doubled that total, recording 76 points in 78 games. The Jets knew they had a good two-way defenceman in Morrissey before that season, but after the 2022-23 season, he was locked in as an elite number one defenceman. The expectations for Morrissey skyrocketed after his 76 point season, and he followed it up with a 69 point season in 2023-24 and most recently a 62 point season in 2024-25.

Josh Morrissey is one of a few Jets players that you have a feeling will be a Jet for life. Morrissey has played in 662 NHL games, scoring 80 goals and 293 assists for 373 points. Next season Morrissey will be entering year 6 of his 8 year contract worth $6.25 million per season. Defenceman generally don’t “peak” as early as forwards do in their careers, so Jets fans should be confident that there’s much more to come from the 30-year old defenceman from Calgary, Alberta. Here’s what I would like to see from Morrissey in the 2025-26 season.

My expectations for Josh Morrissey this upcoming season aren’t as clear as other Jets players, but that’s because I mostly just expect the same version of Morrissey as last season. Morrissey will continue to play on the Jets top blue line pairing with Dylan DeMelo, and he will continue to be utilized in various situations such as the Jets top powerplay unit and in 3 on 3 overtimes. The powerplay will be where Morrissey will be able to rack up a decent amount of his points, either by way of creating plays or by firing the puck past the goalie from the point. Morrissey will have another elite season coming up, it’s just a matter of comparing it to the last two seasons in terms of his overall performance.

When you have a player as good as Morrissey, it’s difficult to say what a “bad” season would be in terms of his standards. Morrissey’s offensive upside may have peaked in the 2022-23 season, but he should still be able to reach at least 50 points no problem. If somehow Morrissey becomes less versatile or not as “valuable” to the team in the 2025-26 season, that would be the only way that I see him taking a step back.

If Morrissey could record another 65+ point season, his name should be in current top 10 defenceman conversations. Some people already have his name in that prestigious tier, but others are still underrating Morrissey. Jets players tend to get less love around social media since they are a “smaller” market, so players like Morrissey have to be quite spectacular to really stand out. Again, it’s difficult to really describe what a good or bad season would like for Morrissey, but I would say a good season would just look like a slightly better season than last year. Basically I’m saying he just would need to go from being great to “greater”.

Here are some general goals that I would like to see from Josh Morrissey in the 2025-26 season:

There’s not much else to discuss in terms of expectations and goals for Morrissey, as I fully expect him to have a similar season to 2024-25. Ever since his breakout season it’s been hard to expect much less of Morrissey, but Jets fans should remain confident that he’ll continue to look close to the player he was just a few seasons ago. I’m excited to see what the upcoming season brings for Morrissey, and I’m hoping to see his name sneak into more “top 10 defencemen” lists by the end of the 2025-26 season.