Dakota Joshua and free agency: It's not looking good for the Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks and every other team in the NHL are still deciding what to do with their pending UFAs, as the free-agent window is set to open in five days.
One of the Canucks' more important pending unrestricted free agents is forward Dakota Joshua, who had a career year in 2023-24 and likely wants to capitalize on that next week.
On Wednesday's edition of Donnie & Dhali, Rick Dhaliwal shared that he's not hearing anything positive in terms of a return to the Canucks next season for Dakota Joshua and that he's priced himself out of Vancouver.
With how Dakota Joshua played this past season, especially in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, his absence in the Canucks' lineup in 2024-25 will be noticeable. Joshua brought a physical presence to the lineup every night and contributed offensively, setting new career highs in goals, assists and points.
In 63 games during the regular season, the Dearborn, Michigan native had 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists), 60 penalty minutes and was a plus-19. He added eight points (four goals, four assists) in 13 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
There are still five days until Dakota Joshua is officially an unrestricted free agent; nothing can change with a single phone call. Still, if he does hit the open market on Canada Day, Patrik Allvin will have plenty of work ahead of himself to try and find a replacement, which certainly won't be an easy task.
Do you think the Vancouver Canucks will still find a way to bring Dakota Joshua back? Let us know what you think in the poll below.
| POLL | ||
Do you think the Canucks will still find a way to bring Dakota Joshua back? | ||
| Yes | 977 | 76.6 % |
| No | 298 | 23.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
