Canucks insider unveils Dakota Joshua’s departure as key step in team’s cap space overhaul 

The Vancouver Canucks' roster overhaul continued this week with the departure of forward Dakota Joshua. The team traded the winger to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round draft pick.

Canucks insider Satiar Shah revealed that trading Joshua is a crucial step in their ongoing cap space management. He still had three years left on his deal, carrying a cap hit of $3.25 million.

On X/Twitter, Shah said:

“Canucks viewed Joshua as an expendable luxury piece in their pursuit for more cap space. Feeling is Kane replaces the toughness and the hope is Karlsson can work the boards and net front at a cheaper rate. VAN still looking to create more cap room.”

With his departure, the team has taken a significant step in freeing up valuable cap space.

After signing with Vancouver as a free agent in 2022, Joshua spent three seasons with the Canucks. He missed training camp and the beginning of last season due to surgery to treat testicular cancer.

Despite the setback, he returned to contribute seven goals and 14 points over 57 games during the regular season.

NHL analyst Daniel Wagner's take on Canucks' "underwhelming trade" of Dakota Joshua

NHL analyst Daniel Wagner commented on the Vancouver Canucks' trading forward Dakota Joshua to the Toronto Maple Leafs via VancouverIsAwesome.com:

“On its own, this is a very underwhelming trade. Joshua had earned a lot of fans in his three seasons in Vancouver with his hard-working, hard-hitting game, winning the Fred J. Hume Award as the team's unsung hero in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.”

As Wagner noted, the draft pick itself is not the main return in this trade. Rather, it's the $3.25 million in cap space over the next three seasons that Joshua's contract occupied. This gives the Canucks flexibility to potentially add another center or clear even more room to make a bigger splash.

“The Canucks have been very clear that they want to add another centre to their lineup,but they lacked the cap space to do it. Trading a guy like Joshua seemed inevitable,” Wagner added.

So, while the return seems underwhelming on the surface, the cap flexibility gained was Vancouver's primary motivation for the move.

What did you make of the Vancouver Canucks trading Dakota Joshua to the Toronto Maple Leafs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Wayne Gretzky’s wife Janet responds to critics questioning his loyalty to Canada, Bobby Orr's support following 4 Nations drama

Edited by Veer Badani