{"id":71305,"date":"2025-07-18T00:49:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T00:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/71305\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T00:49:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T00:49:10","slug":"canucks-trade-dakota-joshua-to-maple-leafs-for-fourth-round-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/71305\/","title":{"rendered":"Canucks trade Dakota Joshua to Maple Leafs for fourth-round pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Dakota Joshua from the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday for a 2028 fourth-round pick, continuing to reshape their bottom-six forward group.<\/p>\n

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TRADE: We\u2019ve acquired forward Dakota Joshua from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a fourth round selection in the 2028 NHL Draft pic.twitter.com\/HutDzsKmuh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joshua spent the last three seasons in Vancouver, putting together a career-best 18 goals and 32 points in 63 games during the 2023-24 campaign. He missed training camp and the start of last season after having a cancerous tumour removed from his testicle<\/a> and wound up scoring seven goals and 14 points in 57 games after rejoining the Vancouver lineup in mid-November.<\/p>\n

\u201cDakota 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,\u201d said Canucks GM Patrik Allvin. \u201cOnce healthy, he tried hard to help the team in many ways, and we want to wish him the best moving forward in Toronto.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Canucks in need of salary cap flexibility ahead of further moves this summer, they opted to ship out Joshua\u2019s $3.25 million cap hit.<\/p>\n

His contract has three years remaining.<\/p>\n

What it means for the Maple Leafs<\/p>\n

Joshua is a big, competitive winger who joins fellow newcomer Nicolas Roy in Toronto. Roy was acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in the Mitch Marner sign-and-trade on June 30. The Leafs also shipped out veteran depth forward Ryan Reaves to San Jose for defenseman Henry Thrun last week.<\/p>\n

Not only was Joshua originally a Maple Leafs draft pick \u2014 128th overall in 2014 \u2014 but he spent time playing under current Toronto head coach Craig Berube during parts of two seasons with the St. Louis Blues.<\/p>\n

The move increases the likelihood of the Leafs trading away at least one of their rostered forwards before next season. The team will have 15 NHL-level players under contract at that position once it reaches a deal with RFA Nick Robertson, who has a salary arbitration hearing scheduled later this month. \u2014 Chris Johnston, senior NHL writer<\/p>\n

What it means for the Canucks<\/p>\n

The Vancouver Canucks have been actively exploring their options to shed salary-cap space for the past couple of weeks<\/a>, and Thursday were able to complete a trade that did just that, sending big winger Joshua to the Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round pick.<\/p>\n

Shedding Joshua\u2019s remaining three years at a $3.25 million cap hit leaves Vancouver with about $4 million in cap room to utilize over the balance of this offseason, or into the upcoming campaign.<\/p>\n

As it was before July 1 and remains, Vancouver\u2019s priority with that cap space is to upgrade down the middle of its forward group.<\/p>\n

There are some options who could help at center in a pinch on the open market \u2014 The Athletic\u2019s Rick Dhaliwal has reported there have been talks between Vancouver and unrestricted free agent Jack Roslovic \u2014 but there isn\u2019t anybody Vancouver brass would view as the answer to their big, looming center-ice question.<\/p>\n

So while this move was, in part, motivated by the club\u2019s desire to re-engage some of the value free agents who have fallen through the cracks in unrestricted free agency, the club was also keen to open up some cap flexibility for flexibility\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n

Joshua wasn\u2019t a player the Canucks wanted to move, but the deal was motivated by Vancouver\u2019s desire to create the means to upgrade at center moreso than it was about anything else. If an opportunity becomes available to land a center later this summer or early next season, the club wants to position itself to pounce on it. There\u2019s a feeling that this deal accomplishes just that.<\/p>\n

With Joshua now off Vancouver\u2019s books, the club isn\u2019t as likely to consider moving Teddy Blueger \u2014 although if an opportunity presents itself, in which the club requires more cap space, he would be the next domino to fall \u2014 and will turn it\u2019s attention back to addressing the centre ice position, either on the trade or bargain bin midsummer free agent market. \u2014 Thomas Drance, senior Canucks writer<\/p>\n

(Photo: Bob Frid \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n