Maple Leafs’ Dakota Joshua Questionable For Opening Night

A depth forward could be unavailable for the start of the Toronto Maple Leafs season. Head coach Jim Hiller told media that he is unsure if winger Dakota Joshua will be healthy for the club’s first game, per Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. Hiller did not share specifics on the injury that Joshua is facing. Toronto’s regular season begins on September 29th with a home game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The 30-year-old Joshua has yet to appear in any preseason action. He has faced a long list of injuries over the last few seasons, including an upper-body injury that ended his 2025-26 season one week early. Joshua also missed roughly two months of action between late December and late February after sustaining a lacerated kidney in a game against the Detroit Red Wings. Joshua also missed significant chunks of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. Those absences came for many different reasons, including lower-body injuries and a diagnosis of testicular cancer that required surgery.

Around his frequent absences, Joshua has proved to be an effective depth forward. He led the Maple Leafs with 195 hits last season – a title he also managed with the Vancouver Canucks in every season between 2022 and 2025. Joshua has also recorded a career-long 16.7 shooting percentage, giving him a strong chance at double-digit goals year-over-year.

Joshua will stand as Toronto’s fourth left-winger when healthy. A race for the role could form if he is unavailable for the start of the season, with Steven Lorentz, Jacob Quillan, Zack MacEwen, and Brendan Brisson all vying for minutes. Lorentz would be the favorite from the bunch after scoring 18 points in 71 games of Toronto’s 2025-26 campaign. He hasn’t been assigned to the minor leagues since the 2019-20 season – and has totaled 80 points in 381 NHL games since.