Why!?: The initial reaction from many Canucks fans when they heard the team had dealt Dakota Joshua to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2028 4th-round draft pick. That’s right, 2028. So nothing of any immediate value, just potential trade capital for later on down the road.
One pretty simple answer: They’re two years younger, less expensive and with greater immediate offensive potential with Drew O’Connor as their big, lefty forward in the bottom six. Does it hurt to lose the extra toughness in the line-up regardless, sure does, but the club saves $3.25-million over the next three seasons. Every little bit helps.
The Canucks signed Joshua to his four-year extension prior to O’Connor being acquired this past February from the Penguins.
The latter is signed for two more seasons at $2.5-million per.
There may be a bit of sentiment in some fans being dismayed. Joshua went from being in then-head coach Rick Tocchet’s doghouse in his first training camp, to becoming reliable muscle, with the ability to show up offensively in the postseason. Joshua was bound and determined in the 2024 playoffs with four goals and four assists over 13 games.
He also overcame surgery following a testicular cancer diagnosis last fall, an outcome that surely impacted his play and potentially his psyche.
While Joshua is a definite loss in terms of overall team toughness, the club is likely comfortable with it’s ability to establish a tougher-to-play-against identity after adding Evander Kane at the end of June. They’re also imposing in multiple ways on the back-end.
In the end, in this biz, sentiment never stands a chance against redundancy.
The Maple Leafs are happy to add any form of grit with size. Joshua returns to the team that drafted him in the 5th-round in 2014.
Earlier Canucks:
— Canucks Garland; What’s Not To Love
Of interest on the Seattle site:
— Kraken: Time For A Tye Kartye Rebound
