Newly Acquired Maple Leafs Forward Dakota Joshua is Officially in Elite Company

The acquisition of forward Dakota Joshua felt like a foregone conclusion once the Vancouver Canucks started shopping him around. The power forward fits exactly what the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to build for the present and the future.

His style of play is reminiscent of the old guard of power forwards that are very hard to find in the modern game. Not only does he finish his checks at a high rate, he can also score in double digits to provide his team with necessary secondary offense.

With that in mind, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that his combination of size and skill has him in a very elite group of just 3 players since 2022-23 to generate 35+ goals and 650+ hits.

Joshua is joined by Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk as well as his former Canucks teammate in Kiefer Sherwood. Joshua has scored 36 goals and accumulated 660 hits in 199 games over his last 3 seasons. Comparatively, Tkachuk has 101 goals and 764 hits in 235 games and Sherwood has 36 goals and 799 hits in 178 games.

Joshua looked to have come out of his shell in 2023-24 when he scored 18 goals and 32 points across 63 regular season games for the Canucks. He also saw 14:23 ATOI and added 245 hits before showing out in playoffs with 8 points and 74 hits in just 13 games.

Unfortunately he was unable replicate that same level of success in 2024-25 after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer before the season commenced. Joshua made a return to the ice in mid-November and finished the season with 193 hits in 57 games.

Now that he's reunited with former head coach Craig Berube, look for Joshua to have some fire in his belly as he aims to return to the form that saw him rightfully earn a 4-year contract worth $13 million in a more prominent role with the Leafs.