Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced on Thursday evening that forward Dakota Joshua has been activated from injured reserve, officially giving Joshua the all-clear to return to the lineup for Thursday night's game against the New York Islanders.
Joshua, 28, is set to make his 2024-25 season debut against the Islanders, playing on a fourth line with youngsters Aatu Raty and Nils Hoglander. Joshua missed each of the Canuck's first 14 games this year as he rehabbed from an offseason operation that removed a testicular tumor. The rugged forward had been practicing with his teammates for some time, but needed to work his way up to absorbing contact in regular drills and finding his game conditioning before a return was on the table.
Dakota Joshua key for the Canucks going forward
The Canucks sorely missed Dakota Joshua in his time away from the ice. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound power forward broke out as a force to be reckoned with last season, scoring a career-high 18 goals, 14 assists, and 32 points in 63 regular season games. Joshua turned his game up in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, recording four goals, four assists, and eight points in 13 games as the Canucks were ultimately eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.
Now that the Canucks have Joshua back in the fold, they can feel a little more comfortable about aspiring to reach those heights and beyond again this season. With Daniel Sprong off to Seattle and Brock Boeser out indefinitely with an injury of his own, the Canucks will need Joshua to provide some of that patented depth scoring as the season grows long.