The Canucks have locked in Dakota Joshua with a four-year, $13M deal.
Joshua, who is 28, had an impressive 2023-24 season despite missing some games due to an upper-body injury. He played 63 games and hit career-highs: 18 goals, 14 assists, and a +19 rating. His average ice time was also the best of his career at 14:23 per game. This means he scored about half a point per game, much better than last year’s performance.
He’s not just good at scoring; Joshua is also great at checking. With 244 hits this season, he led the Canucks and ranked ninth in the league overall. Although he can play center, most of his NHL games have been on the wing. Drafted by the Maple Leafs in 2014 but never signed by them, he eventually joined the Blues after college. He split his first pro season between their AHL and ECHL teams before making it to the NHL during the COVID-shortened season.
Joshua’s Journey:
Vancouver saw potential and grabbed him when he became a free agent in 2022. Last year, he provided excellent value for his $825K cap hit as a solid third-line player. Now he’s getting $3.25M annually—a bit higher than expected but still reasonable if he keeps up his performance.
Fans might think this new contract shows how much faith Vancouver has in Joshua’s abilities .
This extension is one of three significant moves by GM Patrik Allvin recently. He also extended Teddy Blueger’s contract for two years at $3.6MM and made a trade with Chicago to clear cap space by offloading most of Ilya Mikheyev’s salary along with Sam Lafferty’s signing rights and a future draft pick.
With these transactions done, Allvin now has over $15M in cap space for next season and five open roster spots to fill.
What do you think about Joshua’s new deal?
