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The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Dearborn’s Dakota Joshua from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft. 

Joshua, 29, played 57 games last season with the Canucks, missing the first part of the season as he recovered from surgery to treat testicular cancer. He scored seven goals and 14 points in 2024-25.

“Dakota went through a lot last season before the year even started and we were very impressed in how he handled such a difficult off-ice situation,” Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said in a statement. “Once healthy, he tried hard to help the team in many ways, and we want to wish him the best moving forward in Toronto.”

Joshua signed a four year, $13 million contract with the Canucks in 2024 which carries a $3.25 million AAV through the 2027-28 season.

The former Honeybaked and Little Caesars forward was originally drafted in the fifth round (128th overall) by the Leafs in the 2014 NHL Draft.

He was traded to the St. Louis Blues in 2019 and made his NHL debut in 2020-21. Over his five-year NHL career with the Blues and Canucks, he has 40 goals and 78 points in 241 games. 

Ex-Wing Gallant headed to Russia

Long-time NHL head coach and former Red Wing Gerard Gallant is headed to Russia to coach in the Kontinental Hockey League, according to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun.

Gallant was fired after two seasons with the New York Rangers following the 2022-23 campaign. He led the Rangers to 107 points and a 47-22-13 record that season, but the Rangers were eliminated by the New Jersey Devils in the first round in seven games. He reached the conference final in his first season with the club. 

Gallant won the Jack Adams Award in 2017-18 while with the Vegas Golden Knights, leading them to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.

The 61-year-old also has NHL head coaching stints with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers. He owns a career record of 369-262-4-70 in 705 regular season games. 

Ducks, Dostal agree to contract extension

The Anaheim Ducks and restricted free agent goaltender Lukas Dostal have reached a five-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday afternoon.

The deal is for a total of $32.5 million and carries a $6.5 million cap hit for the restricted free agent. 

“Super excited to announce that I’m staying in Anaheim for another five years. I love to play in front of you and I love to live in this community. We are a team on the rise and I can’t wait to see you soon in the Honda Center,” Dostal said as part of a video message shared by the Ducks on X.

The 25-year-old had a 3.10 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage in 54 games last season, his fourth at the NHL level. 

At a $6.5 million cap hit, Dostal will be the 10th highest-paid active goaltender in the NHL this season. He is behind Juuse Saros, who will earn $7.74 million and just ahead of former Ducks goaltender John Gibson, who will carry a $6.4 million cap hit with the Detroit Red Wings this season.

“Lukas has proven he is a No. 1 goaltender and we are so pleased to get this deal done,” said Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek in a news release. “He is just entering the prime of his career with his best hockey ahead of him.”

In 121 career NHL regular season games, Dostal has a 3.29 GAA and a .902 save percentage. He was previously coming off a two-year, $1.63 million deal that paid him $813,000 annually. 

Blue Jackets’ Chinakhov requests trade

Blue Jackets right wing Yegor Chinakhov, the No. 21 pick in the 2020 NHL draft, has requested a trade.

Shumi Babaev, Chinakhov’s agent, posted a statement from his client about his intentions on X on Thursday.

“I had some misunderstandings with the coach during the season. Now I would be glad to have a trade,” Chinakhov said in the post. “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.”

Dean Evason was in his first season as Blue Jackets coach this past season. Columbus went 40-33-9 and finished two points out a wild-card spot.

Babaev later posted that he has talked to the Blue Jackets front office about granting Chinakhov’s request. Babaev added: “I understand that Yegor’s desire to be traded did not come out of nowhere.”

The Russian forward has been plagued by injuries in his four NHL seasons, including missing 40 games last season due to back injury. He had seven goals and 15 points in 30 games. He has one season remaining on his contract.

Chinakhov’s best season was 2023-24, when he had 16 goals and 29 points in 53 games.

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