The early word out of Toronto on Wednesday morning is that the Maple Leafs plan to make Dakota Joshua a healthy scratch for their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. How did it get to this point less than 25 games into the season? Let’s examine.

The Leafs acquired Joshua from the Vancouver Canucks this past offseason, sending a fourth-round pick back in return. It’s been a less-than-ideal start for Joshua in Toronto, as he’s tallied just two goals and three assists through 22 games. But there’s more to it than just the poor raw point totals, as TheLeafsNation.com Managing Editor Arun Srinivasan tells us. Here’s what he had to say:

Dakota Joshua simply hasn’t lived up to expectations for the Maple Leafs, which is a shame, because there was real opportunity to be seized. Joshua was envisioned as a defensively responsible player who could add secondary scoring and toughness to a Maple Leafs team lacking these qualities. It’s been a terrible start and Joshua seemingly admitted as much to The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel yesterday.
Joshua’s 3.71 goals against per 60 is the 41st-worst among 626 skaters who have played 100 minutes or greater via Natural Stat Trick. He hasn’t been the only disappointment for the Maple Leafs to be clear, but aside from a few hits that are the byproduct of a dump-and-chase style, he hasn’t delivered on reasonable preseason expectations. Toronto desperately needs a change.

The Maple Leafs currently sit dead last in the Eastern Conference, one point back of the Buffalo Sabres. It’s been a dreadful start to the season for the Leafs, who once again entered the season with high expectations. GM Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube clearly had a focus on turning the Leafs into a team that could compete in the playoffs, adding more size and sandpaper to a lineup that has made a habit of going quiet when the games matter the most. Unfortunately, it would seem that they created a team incapable of stacking up enough wins in the regular season to even get to the playoffs.

It’s certainly not all on Joshua. Captain Auston Matthews has just 14 points in 17 games. As a team, the Leafs have given up the fourth-most goals in the NHL with 83. That’s not really a recipe for success. Joshua is in his first year as a Maple Leaf, but the second year on a four-year contract the Canucks signed him to back in the summer of 2024. Joshua had a disappointing season with the Canucks in 2024-25, but that was understood, as his season got off to a late start due to treatment for testicular cancer. Joshua is certainly an easy player to root for, and hopefully, he’s able to turn things around soon.

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