Dakota Joshua’s return a silver lining for Vancouver Canucks amid other injury concerns

VANCOUVER — The pinky finger that Dakota Joshua seriously injured in a fight on Feb. 13 probably cost him a 20-goal season and, theoretically, some money as the Vancouver Canuck winger inches towards unrestricted free agency this summer.

But the seven weeks that Joshua missed after completing his Gordie Howe hat trick in Chicago on Feb. 13 by initiating a fight with MacKenzie Entwistle may have actually increased his value because it became obvious that the Canucks had no one to replace Joshua’s combination of size, speed, physicality and skill.

He is a 27-year-old power forward who only now, under coach Rick Tocchet, is starting to show what he could become in the National Hockey League.

Joshua left the lineup as a third-liner but practised Wednesday on the top unit alongside J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. That impressive promotion is expected to hold for at least the Canucks’ home game against the Dallas Stars on Thursday, when Vancouver will try to secure its Stanley Cup playoff berth with nine games remaining.

No wonder Joshua will be at the top of general manager Patrik Allvin’s to-do list when it comes to the sorting through the nine Canucks eligible for unrestricted free agency.

The return of the left winger from Michigan is excellent news for a team that has had bad news lately on injuries, including the Canucks’ decision Wednesday to formalize starting goalie Thatcher Demko’s absence by placing him on long-term injured reserve.

After his Vezina Trophy-calibre season was halted by a knee injury on March 9, Demko is ineligible to play again until April 6, just six games before the Canucks will open their first playoff series at home since 2015.

And while Joshua fully practised Wednesday for the first time since he was hurt, key mid-season acquisition Elias Lindholm missed his third straight workday while resting what Tocchet said is a nagging injury. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Lindholm was seeing a “specialist” this week.

There is no spinning news on Demko and Lindholm as positive. They’re not getting rest; they are injured as the playoffs approach. There is also no denying the advantage that Joshua’s return should provide.

“He's a hard guy to replace,” Tocchet reiterated to Sportsnet on Wednesday. “When I first got here, I guess he was on the outside looking in, and I just didn't understand it. I thought that type of player. . . could really help. I just saw his game get better and better. He has body position, he holds on to pucks, he wins battles in front, good penalty killer. And for the most part, his hockey IQ has really taken off this last year. He has actually developed in the last year like a 20-year-old becoming a 25-year-old. He has really developed.”

Still a fringe player when Tocchet replaced Bruce Boudreau 14 months ago, Joshua was reprimanded for his conditioning at training camp in September, and the coach healthy-scratched him on Nov. 2.

But that was a turning point for the six-foot-three power forward, who built consistency into his game and soon joined Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland to form one of the most effective third lines in the NHL.

Joshua became a go-to penalty killer, still led the Canucks in hits until J.T. Miller recorded seven of them in Monday’s 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, and had career-highs with 13 goals and 26 points in 53 games before getting hurt.

A Toronto Maple Leaf draft pick in 2014 who was given to the St. Louis Blues for future considerations five years later, Joshua did not become a full-time NHL player until Allvin took a flyer on him in free agency two summers ago.

“This was my first one, my first long-term (injury),” Joshua said. “It was hard at first, but then I realized, like, that's just how it is. I wouldn't have been able to come back earlier and been myself, which also could have been detrimental. So you know, it's a learning process to go through this. Definitely not fun because you want to be out there with the guys, so not anything I want to experience again.”

Unlike many injuries, however, this one could have been avoided. Already with a goal and two assists in Vancouver’s 4-2 win in Chicago, Joshua did not need to instigate a fight with Entwistle after the Blackhawk flattened Garland with a hard, clean check that did not hurt the five-foot-nine Canuck.

“You don't ever know what's going to happen and that's just how you play the game, right?” Joshua told reporters. “I don't regret it. It's just unfortunate the way that it turned out. You know, you've got to stick up for your teammates.”

“I know the end result was getting hurt,” Tocchet said. “Like, why did he do it? But I think that’s what Dakota is (and) doing that added a lot to the crest and to the culture. Now listen, there's spots where you go, 'no, don't.' But that situation. . . . I think that's a culture thing that he did. And I'm a little old school when it comes to that. But, yeah, you've got to pick your spots, though.”

Joshua is starting with Miller and Boeser partly because Garland was the spark plug that ignited Elias Pettersson on Vancouver’s second line. But Joshua’s direct, heavy style, ability to win and hold pucks and get to the front of the net make him a template for the way Tocchet would like his wingers to play.

Only two weeks ago, the coach said: “I wish we were a little bit better on the boards. . . a better wall team. We want to make plays and we want to scoot and play fast. We've got some guys that are never going to be great wall guys, let's face it. And that's okay. But can they play five or 10 per cent better on the wall or win a battle?”

And just Monday, after the Canucks failed to get inside on the smothering Kings, Tocchet said: “It's just blue-paint stuff. You've got to own the blue paint.”

Joshua does not quite own the blue paint in the NHL yet, but he’s put down a deposit on a long-term lease in front of opposition goalies.

Asked if he thinks his value to the Canucks was made clearer by his absence, Joshua said: “I don't really think of myself like that, I guess. I just go out there and try to do what I can. It's easy to say after a loss, you know, what could have been different (for the team). But I'm just kind of staying in my lane and playing the game.”

That’s all Tocchet wants.

ICE CHIPS – Tocchet insisted that Demko will still have time to play his way into top form for the playoffs despite going on LTIR. And the coach is unconcerned that Lindholm’s day-to-day absence could turn into something significantly longer. “It's something a little nagging that's getting better every day,” Tocchet said. “That's the way you've got to look at it.” . . . At one point during practice at the University of B.C., Tocchet barked at players during a meeting at the whiteboard. “A few guys weren't ready,” he explained. “We have a day off (Tuesday), you've got to be ready to go. They picked it up after that. No big deal. I can't be yelling and screaming every day. But I don't think I've yelled and screamed in two weeks, so it was a good time to do it. Every 14 days.” . . . With cap space created by Demko’s move to LTIR, the Canucks recalled minor-leaguer Arshdeep Bains, who practised Wednesday as an extra forward.