Toronto Maple Leafs forward Dakota Joshua is hungry to become a factor with his team in their ever-long pursuit of hockey glory.
The 29-year-old was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks on July 17th in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round pick. The move represented a full-circle moment as Joshua was originally drafted by the Leafs in 2014 and will now get to suit up in his first games with the team 11 years later.
Joshua appeared on Leafs Morning Take with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Wednesday, where he revealed that he started hearing rumblings that he could be traded during the 2025 NHL Draft and was pumped when the homecoming was made official.
“Being young, you were just kind of happy to be around and put the Leafs Development camp gear on and just get a feel for things, not really realizing all the steps that it would take to be on the team one day,” he said. “So now having a couple of years under my belt and really coming into my own, means a lot to get to join the Leafs right now and help go get a Cup.”
While there aren’t many holdovers from the last time he was in the organization, he does know the likes of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Joseph Woll from their days together at development camp nearly a decade ago. Beyond them is a brand-new group of players to him, to which Joshua said he is excited to join and get to know his new teammates.
Of course, he already has a strong connection with head coach Craig Berube and assistant coach Mike Van Ryn from their time together with the St. Louis Blues. Joshua credits Berube for making him the player he is today and is forever grateful to him for getting his first shot at the NHL during the 2021 COVID-shortened campaign.
“I think the biggest thing, no doubt, is the confidence of it all. Starting off and kind of finding out how it works, and you gotta find your niche and what’s gonna keep you in the lineup every night on any level really was a big part of me,” he said. “Early on, maybe I didn’t understand fully what I needed to do or what it took to be an everyday NHL player. But over the years, that’s come along and the last few years in Vancouver getting to play out the full seasons and knowing what it takes night in and night out has done me good and prepared me to keep progressing.”
Joshua may be right in the prime of his career, but he feels that he has not yet reached his ceiling and is eager to get back on track after dealing with a setback stemming from testicular cancer disrupting his season. While he had the support of his teammates in Vancouver when the diagnosis first came in, he admitted that missing training camp didn’t do him any favours and felt like he was playing catch-up the entire season. It’s only fitting that he will be donning the #81 with the Leafs, the same number that fellow testicular cancer survivor Phil Kessel wore.
Now that he is fully recovered, Joshua is eager to showcase his abilities to be a factor no matter where in the lineup he is along with his relentless forecheck and physical presence.
“I feel like myself, adding to the depth of the team will help a lot. Not just relying so much on the top-end guys to pull through and get the job done in the end, but you need everybody,” he said on what he thinks the Leafs have been missing in the playoffs. “You’ve seen it with the last few Stanley Cup champions: it is a full team effort. You need everybody pitching in at the end of the year when push comes to shove.”
You can watch the full interview with Joshua down below:
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