Dakota Joshua is back.
The Vancouver Canucks fan (and teammate) favourite will finally make his season debut on Thursday night against the New York Islanders. Joshua missed training camp and the start of the season while recovering from surgery following a testicular cancer diagnosis in the offseason.
"That was a scary time but I'm very thankful and happy to be in this position still and to be able to go out there and play," said Joshua.
Joshua has been back practicing with the team for weeks, working his way back up to the conditioning and fitness required to play NHL games. It's been a slow process with what appeared to be some setbacks, as he sat out a slate of practices for an undisclosed reason, but he was finally back to taking regular line rushes at Thursday's morning skate.
Understandably, he's excited to get back on the ice in front of fans at Rogers Arena, as well as back with his teammates for a proper gameday.
"It's just nice to be back in the room with the guys and to get back to work," said Joshua.
His teammates, too, are excited to have him back, particularly Conor Garland, who became one of his closest friends after they clashed in training camp last year.
"I'm ecstatic," said Garland to Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre. "And I'm happy it's at home too. The crowd should really be juiced to see him and it'll be fun for his first shift. He's a great guy, dealt with some stuff, and has come out on the other side."
Head coach Rick Tocchet is also thrilled to get Joshua back.
"It's like making a major trade," said Tocchet. "He's a big kid that's got great hands. He's played really well for this organization, especially last year, so we're really excited to have him back. He's gone through a lot of stuff and I've loved the way he's dealt with it. We're just happy for him."
Joshua led the Canucks in hits last season with 244, good for ninth in the NHL, but he'll be hard-pressed to catch up to teammate Kiefer Sherwood, who leads the entire NHL with 87 hits and is on pace to shatter the single-season hits record.
"You've got to get physically engaged early," said Joshua. "Kiefer does have quite a bit of a headstart on me but I'll see what I can do."
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
Even with Joshua back, the Canucks won't be changing their lines much from the lineup that confidently dealt with the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.
Instead, the Canucks will ease Joshua back into the lineup on the fourth line in place of Arshdeep Bains, who was sent down to the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL on Wednesday.
Here are the Canucks' projected lines:
Jonathan Lekkerimäki will look to build on his strong debut on Tuesday in his second NHL game, once again in a top-six role with J.T. Miller and Pius Suter. That line controlled possession against the Flames and came up with an even-strength goal that held up as the game-winner.
Joshua will be on a line with Aatu Räty, who turned 22 on Thursday, and Nils Höglander. It's been clear that Höglander is in Tocchet's doghouse, with Höglander bluntly assessing his own play to Tocchet, who in turn took ownership of the issue himself.
"He's a kid that I've got to take responsibility, I've got to coach him better," said Tocchet. "I think it's on me to get him out there more often. He came up to me this morning to be frankly honest with you, 'Tocc, I'm not playing good for you,' and I said, 'Well, I've got to get you more ice time.' I think it's a give-and-take. I've got to get him out there tonight because he's going to play with Dakota tonight — a good player to play with."
The Canucks' starting goaltender will once again be Kevin Lankinen, raising concerns that they might be overworking him as their starter. This will be his 12th start in 15 games.
New York Islanders projected lines
Bo Horvat is back in town for his fourth game of his career against his former team. Horvat has evidently enjoyed playing against the Canucks, with 2 goals and 3 points in 3 games.
Shutting down Horvat's top line will be key for the Canucks but the Islanders' leading scorer, Kyle Palmieri, is on their second line. Palmieri has 7 goals and 14 points in 16 games this season.
The Islanders as a whole have struggled to score goals. They're currently 26th in the NHL in goals per game and their 12.5% power play is 29th in the league. They have a 6-6-4 record and currently sit fifth in the Metropolitan Division.
Here are the Islanders' projected lines, courtesy of Newsday's Andrew Gross:
Anders Lee - Bo Horvat - Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Maxim Tsyplakov - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Pierre Engvall - Casey Cizikas - Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Oliver Wahlstrom
Isaiah George - NoahDobson
Ryan Pulock - Scott Mayfield
Dennis Cholowski - Grant Hutton
Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin
The Islanders will be without Mathew Barzal, who was given a 4-6 week timeline for an upper-body injury a couple of weeks ago. The Islanders are also missing Adam Pelech, Alexander Romanov, Mike Reilly, and Anthony Duclair due to various injuries.
The Islanders' starting goaltender will be Semyon Varlamov, which is good for the Canucks. Ilya Sorokin has been the better of the two goaltenders this season, with a .915 save percentage that lands him in the top ten in the NHL.
Varlamov hasn't been anywhere near as good, with an .887 save percentage, though he's been better in his last couple of starts against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators.
