NHL Notebook: Canucks trade Dakota Joshua to Maple Leafs, Blue Jackets’ Chinakhov requests trade

Who said the middle of July was the slow season for the NHL?

Thursday brought forth a wave of news, headlined by the Vancouver Canucks trading winger Dakota Joshua to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2028 fourth-round draft pick.

Joshua, 29, scored seven goals and 14 points in 57 games last season, laying a whopping 193 hits. The 6’3, 205 lb. left-shot is in the second-year of a four-year contract paying him $3.25-million.

It’s a full circle moment for Joshua, who the Maple Leafs drafted in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. But Joshua never signed with the Leafs, instead heading to the NCAA’s Ohio State University for four years.

When he was ready to turn pro ahead of the 2019-20 season, the Leafs traded him to the St. Louis Blues for future considerations. He split that year between the ECHL and AHL, before getting his first taste of NHL action playing 12 games in 2020-21, and another 30 the following year.

Joshua signed a two-year, $1.65-milllion AAV deal with the Canucks in July 2022. Through three seasons in Vancouver, he scored 36 goals and 69 points in 199 games, including setting career highs in goals, assists and points in 2023-24, with 18, 14 and 32, respectively.

He found ways to impact games when the Canucks and Edmonton Oilers squared off, scoring two goals and three points in seven regular-season games, and another two goals and four points in the two teams’ second-round series matchup in the 2023-24 playoffs.

Chinakhov wants out

The other big piece of news breaking on Thursday was Columbus Blue Jackets winger Yegor Chinakhov requesting a trade.

The request was made public in an interview he did with Russian media outlet Sport-Express, where he had been asked about his status entering the final season of a two-year, $2.1-million AAV deal.

His agent later shared a quote from Chinakhov on X, stating “I had some misunderstandings with the coach during the season. Now, I would be glad to have a trade. I would like to move to a different location. Will I return to Russia? As long as I can play in the NHL, I will keep developing here.”

Drafted by the Blue Jackets 21st overall in the 2020 draft, his development has been up and down, playing 175 NHL games over the last four years, scoring 34 goals and 71 points, adding seven goals and 13 points in 11 games. This past season he scored seven goals and 15 points in 30 games, missing time with a back injury, but also found himself healthy scratched by head coach Dean Evason late in the year.

Other news and notes…

• The Anaheim Ducks signed goaltender Lukas Dostal to a five-year contract extension Thursday. The deal carries a $6.5-million cap hit. He’s coming off a breakout season with the Ducks, posting a 23-23-7 record, .903 save percentage and a 3.10 goals against average. According to Evolving Hockey, he saved 21.41 goals above expected this season, the ninth-best mark in the entire NHL.