July 17th, 2025
Alex Rickman
Dakota Joshua is a Toronto Maple Leaf. We have slipped into the darkest timeline.
On Thursday afternoon, the Canucks announced that fan favourite winger Dakota Joshua had been shipped to the Maple Leafs, the team that drafted him back in 2014, in exchange for a 2028 4th-round pick.
In the Canucks quest for cap space, it came out that both Joshua and Teddy Blueger’s names were out there in trade talks, so this deal isn’t necessarily a surprise. However, that hasn’t made the move any more popular among Canucks fans. For starters, while he may have been coming off a down year production-wise, Joshua made himself a very popular figure among Canucks fans over his tenure in Vancouver. Along with his gritty, hardworking game, Joshua would often come up with clutch goals when the team needed a spark.
Adding to that, Joshua’s down year was largely a result of an offseason cancer diagnosis ahead of last season, and with how he produced at the end of last season, there was plenty of reason to believe a bounceback was coming. The return, as well, while not necessarily shockingly low, is a little underwhelming for a player who previously could have been worth a lot more.
When you remember that just under a month ago, the Canucks parted with a 4th to land Evander Kane in a move that still boggles the mind, this looks even worse. At this point in their respective careers, Joshua is the better player than Kane. Producing at a similar rate offensively in their last healthy NHL seasons, Joshua also skates better, plays defence, and takes far fewer penalties than Kane, all while making less money. Had the Canucks not pulled the trigger on that shocking deal, they would have had more cap space than they’ve got right now, and been able to keep the better player while being able to make whatever addition this will allow for. Unfortunately, this will not be happening.
So, how will the Canucks put this newfound cap space to work? While a trade for a young RFA centre would be the ideal way forward right now, the odds of a Marco Rossi or Mason McTavish making their way to Vancouver as a result of this are low. As for current UFAs, the most likely candidate to be the newest Canuck is Jack Roslovic. A good middle-six presence who can play centre but is best suited as a winger, Roslovic would be a good add to a Canucks forward core in need of help, but isn’t likely to be a major difference maker. We’ll see what happens next, but don’t expect a major addition to the Canucks ranks off the back of this.
Overall, this is a very disappointing move for the Canucks. Freeing up some cap space may have been a necessary evil in order to keep making improvements to the team, but these problems stem back to issues this team created on their own. Had they played their hand better in recent months, and especially with the unnecessary move to add Kane, this wouldn’t have had to happen, and the team would have been left in a better state. Joshua will be sorely missed on this Canucks lineup, and hopefully, he can refind the magic that made Canucks fans fall in love with him during the 2023-24 season.
I hope to be proven wrong and have this move work out and allow the Canucks to add a difference maker, but for now, it’s hard to see a way to spin this move as a positive.