The Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs made a transaction on Thursday. The Canucks have traded centre Dakota Joshua of Dearborn, Michigan to the Maple Leafs for a fourth round pick in the 2028 National Hockey League Entry Draft according to Rogers Sportsnet.
Third NHL franchise
Joshua originally played two seasons with the St. Louis Blues from 2020 to 2022. He then spent the last three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks.
Joshua’s 2024-25 season
In 57 games, Joshua had seven goals and seven assists for 14 points. He was a -13 with 38 penalty minutes, two power-play points, one shorthanded point, 52 shots on goal, 23 faceoff wins, 29 blocked shots, 193 hits, 12 takeaways and 36 giveaways.
Both of Joshua’s power-play points came in Canuvcks overtime wins. The first power-play point came in 2-1 Canucks win over the San Jose Sharks on February 6. Joshua opened the scoring with a power-play goal from Pius Suter of Zurich, Switzerland and defenseman Tyler Myers of Calgary, Alberta at 8:04 of the first period to put the Canucks up 1-0 at the time. Twenty days later, the second power-play point came in a 3-2 Canucks win over the Los Angeles Kings on February 26. Joshua set up Conor Garland of Scituate, Massachusetts at 13:07 of the second period to put the Canucks up 2-0 at the time.
Drop off in production
Like the majority of the Vancouver Canucks players, Joshua was much better overall in 2023-24 than 2024-25. In 2023-24, Joshua had 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points in 63 games. He was a +19 with 60 penalty minutes, one power-play point, five game-winning goals, 84 shots on goal, 34 faceoff wins, 40 blocked shots, 245 faceoff wins, 29 takeaways, and 24 giveaways.
Analysis and Trade Grades
The Maple Leafs are trying to tinker with their lineup after losing their leading scorer Mitch Marner of Markham, Ontario. In addition to Joshua, the Maple Leafs acquired Nicolas Roy of Amos, Quebec directly from the Golden Knights in the Marner deal, and Mattias Maccelli of Turku, Finland from the Utah Mammoth for a conditional third round pick.
There is a similarity between Joshua, Roy and Maccelli. They all had a drop off in production from the previous season. Maccelli had 39 fewer points in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24, and Roy had 10 fewer points.
With Joshua being a power forward, these types of players tend to have problems with consistency. They may deliver several bodychecks in one night or none at all. The Maple Leafs will not replace Marner overnight, but the acquisition of Joshua fills a checking line void. My grade for the Leafs here is a C+. It would have been a B+ had we not seen Joshua’s drop off last season. The Canucks meanwhile get a C, as they could have got a little more than a fourth round pick from the Maple Leafs.
