On Thursday morning, Morrissey and the Jets put pen to paper on an eight-year deal carrying a $6.25 million cap hit, which will officially begin in the 2020-21 NHL season. The eight-year, $50 million deal is broken down as follows: $8 million in years one, two and four, $5.2 million in year three, $6.4 million in year five and $4.8 million in years six, seven and eight.
“I love playing here,” Morrissey said Thursday. “The term excited me. The fact that I get to have that stability, to be here and playing in Winnipeg, from day one, it’s what I have always said that I wanted to do. To have that and the way it worked out, I’m really excited.”
Morrissey, 24, signed a two-year ‘bridge’ style contract worth $3.15 million last summer, keeping him in the fold for just the 2018-19 and the 2019-20 seasons. He indicated that the hope all along was to sign long-term to stay in Manitoba, but waited until the timing was right within the organization.
“For us, this goes back to this time last year,” said Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. “We had at that point in time, really expressed our desire to want a long-term deal with Josh but given our cap situation he was able to see at that point we were only able to do a bridge to keep the group together and try to take a kick at the can last year with what we had. At that time we told him that it was our firm belief that we want to make you a long-term Jet and when we get that opportunity, we’re going to work hard at doing it.”
The Calgary, AB. product played in his third full season with the Jets in 2018-19, suiting up for 59 games, while collecting six goals, 31 points and 14 penalty minutes. In 223 career NHL contests, Morrissey has 19 goals, 77 points and 99 penalty minutes.
“I think one of the things that really excites me about having the stability of this deal is that I can go out there now and play and realistically worry about playing hockey and seeing where I can take my game to – as an individual and as a team. I am excited to have the ability to focus solely on becoming the best player I can be… Definitely once you get into discussions it’s pretty hard not to be thinking about it. It’s nice to get to a point where you feel happy at both ends and able to get the deal done.”
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