Dakota Joshua is nearing his return to the NHL.
The Vancouver Canucks forward announced at the opening of training camp that he had successful off-season surgery for testicular cancer.
Joshua missed all of training camp while recovering but returned to the ice with his teammates for Saturday’s morning skate. He was back on the ice Tuesday in Chicago and Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that Joshua is one-to-two weeks away from returning to game action.
The six-foot-three, 206-pound Joshua had a career-high 18 goals and 14 assists in 63 games for the Canucks last season and signed a new four-year, $13-million deal with Vancouver at the end of June.
“He’s going to do some pushing and shoving on the ice today,” head coach Rick Tocchett said of Joshua Tuesday. “I don’t exactly the date but obviously he is getting closer and closer.”
The Canucks saw another one of their injured players take to the ice on Tuesday.
All-star goaltender Thatcher Demko was on the ice after optional morning skate running through drills with coach Marko Torenius.
Though the 29-year-old did not participate in training camp, he returned to skating in September.
Demko is dealing with a rare knee ailment — an injury not yet seen in hockey players — that he suffered last March and is out of the Canucks lineup indefinitely while undergoing rehabilitation.