Canucks forward Dakota Joshua will make his 2024-25 season debut against the Islanders on Thursday, Ben Kuzma of Postmedia reports. He’ll need to be activated from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game. The Canucks recalled Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Aatu Räty from their brief demotions earlier today but left Arshdeep Bains on assignment to AHL Abbotsford, meaning he’ll say down for the foreseeable future while Joshua takes his roster spot.
Joshua had been held out of the lineup after undergoing successful offseason surgery to remove testicular cancer. He began practicing in a non-contact jersey a couple of weeks after the season started and had been upgraded to day-to-day last week.
He’ll play what Kuzma called “measured minutes” on the fourth line in his season debut tonight. Line rushes at practice this morning indicate that Joshua will play left wing alongside Räty and Höglander, per Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650.
Joshua, 28, enters his third season in Vancouver coming off a breakout 2023-24 campaign. The Ohio State product recorded career highs across the board last season with 18 goals, 14 assists, 32 points, and a +19 rating while averaging 14:23 per game across 63 contests.
Vancouver’s third line with him, Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland last season was their most consistently deployed at 361 minutes together, and for good reason. They controlled 58.4% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck, ranking eighth among the 41 forward trios to log at least 300 minutes together in 2023-24.
Luckily for Joshua, that breakout came in a contract year. He parlayed that performance into a four-year, $13MM extension with a 12-team no-trade clause.
The Canucks’ active roster is now full at 13 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders.