Morrissey, host of young guns crack lineup

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This article was published 10/10/2016 (3593 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For three years, Josh Morrissey wasn’t deemed fit for prime time.

Instead, the 13th-overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft was banished to junior in the fall after he was chosen by the Winnipeg Jets; ditto a year later; and a year after that, sent to the American Hockey League for a season after his junior eligibility ran out.

On Thanksgiving morning, however, Morrissey wasn’t among the names selected for re-assignment down the hall.

Instead, he was on the ice with his new teammates gearing up for the opening of the NHL’s regular season in a few days’ time.

“It’s something I’ve worked really hard for, something I wanted and set as my goal since I was a little kid,” Morrissey said after an extended stay on the ice at the MTS Iceplex.

You’d need an army to wipe the grins from Morrissey’s face, or from other young guns Brandon Tanev, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Connor Hellebuyck, who will all start the season on hockey’s grandest stage.

Many of them expressed similar sentiments: the easy part, as it were, is over. The hard bit? Well that’s just getting started.

“If you want to stay here and contribute and be a big player for the team, you have to bring it every day and continue to improve as a young player,” said Morrissey, who has a good chance of cracking one of the top two pairings on defence when Jets take on the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday.

“I think my defensive game has come a long way,” he said. “The coaches have been great. They gave me a huge opportunity, obviously playing six (exhibition) games. I’m definitely happy with how my game as grown.”

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said he had Tanev’s name half inked into this year’s starting lineup after his stint with the club at the tail end of last season.

All the 24-year-old needed to do? Come back with the same form he exhibited during his call-up at the end of last season.

He didn’t, electing, instead, to get better over the off-season, according to Maurice.

“It’s exciting. You work all summer to come into training camp in shape and push for a roster spot,” Tanev said. “Ultimately, I’m happy to be here. The works starts now.”

Tanev’s game grew throughout training camp, something that boosted the mental side of his craft.

“Absolutely. You get a lot of confidence coming in and playing well your first game and continue to grow off that,” he said. “Take good feedback from your teammates and your coaches, every shift you get out there, every practice, continue to get better.”

A man of few words at the best of times, Connor’s smile did much of the talking on Monday.

“It’s obviously exciting and a real honour, but the works starts now,” he said, echoing the words of his young teammates. “I want to come here and contribute and play the best I can.”

For Maurice, Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and the rest of the Jets’ front office, the latter half of the draft and develop philosophy is starting to shine.

“It shows that we have players who are at a level where we need to look at them in the NHL,” Maurice said. “To be honest with you, I think what it really shows… when Kevin and I first spoke on a Saturday two and a half years ago and told me what he was planning, this is exactly what he was planning on doing. We wanted to put some structure in on the first year and we were going to get very young and give some of our young players and opportunity and build around that core.”

Maurice conceded three things on Monday: Yes, they’re a young team, yes, they’re excited about it and yes, expectations are still the same.

“It changes process, not expectations,” Maurice said. “We come into every season and it’s pretty simple; we want to get better, we want to make the playoffs and we want to win the Stanley Cup.

“What our puzzle pieces look like doesn’t change what we hope for, what we believe in and what we strive for. But you’re not putting a guy on the bench after every mistake. There’s a lot of learning that has to happen.”

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @scottbilleck