The Toronto Maple Leafs took a swing on a former draft pick who blossomed with the Vancouver Canucks, acquiring forward Dakota Joshua in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2028.

Joshua, 29, is about to enter the second year of a four-year deal that pays him $3.25 million annually. He signed the contract after a breakout season with the Canucks in 2023-24 that saw him score 18 goals and notch 32 points in 63 games. He also scored four goals and chipped in eight points in 13 playoff games that year, along with a whopping 74 hits in those 13 playoff games to lead the Canucks by a long shot.

The 2024-25 season wasn’t as kind to Joshua, as it was discovered over the summer that he had testicular cancer and required surgery, which made him miss the entirety of training camp as well as the start of the season. He returned to action in November but was understandably a step behind his teammates and the rest of the league, something that he never really recovered from during the season. Still, according to Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin, it wasn’t due to a lack of effort.

“Dakota went through a lot last season before the year even started and we were very impressed in how he handled such a difficult off-ice situation,” Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said following the trade. “Once healthy, he tried hard to help the team in many ways, and we want to wish him the best moving forward in Toronto.”

The Maple Leafs had shown interest in Joshua last offseason before he inked a four-year deal with Vancouver, so when speculation that the Canucks were looking to unload some bodies to clear cap room emerged, it seemed like the Leafs would be involved. Not only is there reason to believe that Joshua is closer to the player he was in 2023-24 than the one he was last season, but he possesses the unique combination of speed, skill, and toughness that the Leafs are looking to fit their new DNA mould.

One of the main criticisms about the Leafs over the past decade was the way their cap was structured and how it was allocated to their players. The Maple Leafs are a weaker team on paper without Mitch Marner, but with the Joshua trade and the acquisitions of Nicolas Roy and Matias Maccelli, it’s clear that they’re putting an emphasis on rounding out their depth. Maccelli has shown he can produce at a clip of 60 points in a season, Roy has routinely floated around 40 points, and Joshua produced at a 40-point pace in his breakout season. Expecting all three of these players to have career years next season might be a little far-fetched, but if nothing else, a potential third line featuring Roy and Joshua is eons better than the bottom-six layout of a heavily sheltered ‘offence’ line and a minimal offence checking line they ran in their bottom six last season.

Ultimately, it’s going to be difficult to give these teams a full grade based on this trade alone, because both teams have unfinished work here. The Canucks clearly got rid of Joshua to clear cap space for another acquisition, and while Joshua is a great add for a team that needs to bolster their depth, the Leafs still need to add a top-six winger at some point. If the Canucks use that cap space to upgrade their team and get a draft pick out of it, it will look a lot better than it will if they just move the body out and call it a day. In that same breath, the Maple Leafs are in a much better place from a depth standpoint than they were 24 hours ago, but they need to follow that up with another move, whether that’s before training camp or at the trade deadline. As it stands right now, I’d call the Leafs the winners here, but we simply need to see what both teams do for a corresponding move before we give it a firm grade.

Maple Leafs grade: B+ 

Canucks grade: C

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