It was a rough season across the board for the Toronto Maple Leafs but few had a tougher go than Dakota Joshua, who returned to the organization 11 years after the Maple Leafs originally drafted him. The Leafs acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks prior to the 2025-26 season with hopes that getting to play under a familiar face in Craig Berube and get a fresh start would help him rebound after a 2024-25 season that saw him miss part of it due to a testicular cancer diagnosis.

Joshua battled inconsistency through the first few months of the season, with six goals and ten points in 36 games by the time Christmas rolled around, and he suffered an unprecedented kidney laceration before the calendar year finished, causing him to miss two months and not return until it was pretty universally known that the Leafs wouldn’t be making the playoffs at the deadline. After suffering an additional upper-body injury near the end of the regular season, he finished the year with ten goals and 18 points in 55 points.

One of the storylines of this offseason has been the new regime’s cutthroat vibe when it comes to staff who were hired by the previous regime. This has applied more so to the management and coaching staff than the players, but the same logic can apply on both fronts. Since new general manager John Chayka was hired, the Leafs have completely cleaned house in their front office with a couple of exceptions (including Toronto Marlies GM Ryan Hardy) and they’ve got a much different looking coaching staff, as well. Joshua was acquired by Brad Treliving last offseason, so he would fall into the category of players who don’t have any sort of attachment to Chayka. Because of this, and along with his lack of production last season and term remaining on his deal, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Joshua find a new home before the season starts. But, if Chayka doesn’t have any trades to meaningfully upgrade the forward corps in the hopper, he would be smart to let Joshua start the season under new head coach Jim Hiller.

The obvious reason to keep Joshua here is because of his history with new Leafs free agent signing Teddy Blueger. The two played with each other on the Canucks during Joshua’s career season in 2023-24, when the latter scored 18 goals and added 32 points in 63 games. Joshua was just about everything a coach could ask for out of a bottom-six forward that season. He was fast, physical, and had enough offensive prowess that he could jump into the top six if the team needed him to.

The line of Joshua, Blueger, and Conor Garland were excellent from a possession standpoint in 2023-24, playing to a Corsi-for percentage of 54.60% and an expected-goals rating of 61.04%. It’s worth noting that Garland was just as important to the success of that line as Joshua and Blueger, so if that combination is going to work in Toronto, they’re going to need somebody in Garland’s role to complement them. The Leafs have a few contenders for this role, with Easton Cowan and Jack Roslovic likely leading the charge in that department.

Blueger spoke about his excitement about potentially getting to reunite with Joshua in Toronto after signing with the team in July.

“We had a good run, me, Dak [Joshua] and Conor Garland, a lot of fun playing with those guys,” Blueger said. “We had some success, obviously, that always helps, but I think the three of us complement each other pretty well. We brought out slightly different skillsets. I think the balance was there, as a line. Dak is a big, physical power forward, great down low, great in front of the net, he can score. So, he’s got a great skillset. I love playing with him and I’m obviously hoping to get that chance again.”

It goes without saying that if the Leafs have a significant move lined up to upgrade their forward group, regardless of who that might be, Joshua’s status on the team shouldn’t be written in stone. With the signing of Brandon Duhaime to a three-year contract, Joshua is probably 12th forward out of 12, but if the Leafs don’t have an immediate upgrade lined up to come in and help them before the season begins, they should give Joshua a shot to rediscover that magic with Blueger in a different shade of blue jersey. If it doesn’t help, then you’ve always got the trade deadline to seek that upgrade, but in a season where the roster is completely revamped and oversaw by a brand new coaching staff and management group, leaning on already-established chemistry might not be the worst path to go down.