Josh Morrissey Became a Star When the Jets Let Him Be

There is something interesting about Josh Morrissey's career in Winnipeg, and it goes beyond how good the defenceman has become. The Jets didn't draft him expecting a Norris Trophy candidate. They drafted a smart, mobile, two-way defenceman who could move the puck, defend and contribute on a second pairing. In other words, they drafted a good NHL player.

Trouba's departure gave Morrissey room to become something more.

What they eventually discovered was something more. Morrissey's career seems to have changed when he was given the opportunity to become more than the player the Jets originally imagined. For his first several seasons, he was steady and reliable, playing alongside Jacob Trouba and providing exactly the kind of complementary game Winnipeg needed. After Trouba left, Morrissey was eventually asked to carry a much larger load. At first, that looked like a problem.

Then something changed. Rather than simply becoming a bigger version of the same player, Morrissey began showing how much more was actually in his game. His skating and passing had always been there. So had his hockey intelligence. But with greater responsibility came a greater willingness to create. He became an offensive defenceman rather than simply a defenceman who could contribute offensively.

Morrissey is an example of how NHL players can grow into something different.

Morrissey's development is a reminder that NHL players don't always reveal their complete identities immediately. Sometimes a player isn't being misread. He's simply being used in a way that doesn't require everything he can do. That's particularly interesting for the Jets now.

Winnipeg has spent years trying to build around an established core, but there is a larger organizational question sitting underneath that roster construction. Are there other players who have been defined too narrowly? Are some Jets being asked to fill a role because that is what the organization believes they are, rather than because it represents everything they could become?

Morrissey offers an encouraging answer to questions about player development.

He was selected 13th overall in 2013, even though Bob McKenzie's consensus ranking had him 28th. The Jets didn't draft him expecting him to become a franchise-defining offensive defenceman. They drafted a player whose intelligence, skating and competitiveness gave him a strong foundation. His eventual emergence as a top offensive defenceman was something the organization had to discover rather than simply predict.

That may be one of the most important lessons from his career. Good organizations don't just identify talent. They create the conditions in which that talent can become something unexpected. Morrissey didn't suddenly become a different player. The player was there all along.

The Jets eventually allowed him to be different. And sometimes that is where a good player becomes a star.