The Winnipeg Jets announced today, September 12th, that they have signed defenseman Josh Morrissey to an eight-year contract extension worth $50 million ($6.25 million AAV). Morrissey appeared in 59 games for the Jets last season, in which he produced six goals and 25 assists. He then played in all six of the team’s playoff games, through which he tallied zero goals and one assist. Drafted 13th overall of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by Winnipeg, Morrissey has appeared in 223 career NHL games, over which he has recorded 19 goals and 58 assists. The 24-year-old defenseman has only played for the Jets organization over his four season NHL and professional career.
Full Contract Breakdown:
- 2020-21: $8 million base salary, no signing bonus, $6.25 million cap hit.
- 2021-22: $8 million base salary, no signing bonus, $6.25 million cap hit.
- 2022-23: $5.2 million base salary, no signing bonus, $6.25 million cap hit, no-move clause (NMC).
- 2023-24: $8 million base salary, no signing bonus, $6.25 million cap hit, NMC.
- 2024-25: $6.4 million base salary, no signing bonus, $6.25 million cap hit, NMC.
- 2025-26: $4.8 million base salary, no signing bonus, $6.25 million cap hit, modified no-trade clause (NTC).
- 2026-27: $4.8 million base salary, no signing bonus, $6.25 million cap hit, modified NTC.
- 2027-28: $4.8 million base salary, no signing bonus, $6.25 million cap hit, modified NTC.
My Reaction: This deal looks great for the Jets now, and it will only get better with time. Morrissey is a huge part of the team and now he’ll be that way for a long time. He’s a great passer, puck carrier, and transition player with good offensive instincts, although he is still developing his overall offensive game at the NHL-level. He can also succeed on the power play, and while he’s yet to see a lot of power-play time with the Jets, I think that changes this season with the departure of Jacob Trouba. He’s a great shutdown defenseman as well at both ends of the ice, and he’s still young and developing, which is why while these deal looks good now, it’ll be even better in a few years as the cap continues to increase and he improves. Two things that surprise me about this contract is the fact that it’s back-diving and it’s all straight salary. Normally with young players, the contracts increase over time, so it seems a little unusual that this one doesn’t upon first glance, but since Morrissey will be a UFA (unlike many of the others) at the end of this deal, I guess there was really no incentive for it to be that way. However, it is very unusual that there are no signing bonuses at any point over the course of this contract. With big, long-term deals such as this one, there are normally huge signing bonuses because unlike a salary, it’s guaranteed money for the players in the event of things such as a lock-out. So, I’m surprised that there weren’t any here, at least for the first few years given there is a potential lock-out looming.
The only thing about this deal that should be slightly concerning to Jets fans is the fact that it was reportedly one of the Jets top priorities this offseason. The reason I say this is because Morrissey was still under contract for this upcoming season and the Jets have two high-profile RFAs still awaiting contracts for this year in Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine. In my opinion, he should be much more concerned about getting those two done, and while you can certainly work on multiple deals at once, Morrissey really shouldn’t have been as high of a priority. Yes, it’s nice to get deals done early, but he had until June 30th, 2020 to be eligible for an eight-year extension, so there was plenty of time. This likely means talks really aren’t going well with those two, and at least in the case of Laine, we know that’s true with trade rumors swirling around him. However, Jets fans could also take the fact that Morrissey signed early as a promising sign because it means that he really wants to stay and he doesn’t care that had he waited until after this season, he likely would’ve gotten more money. I don’t see a way in which the Jets regret this deal as they have a great young defenseman who’s still improving locked up for a long time and at a very reasonable cap hit.
Hockey Addict 