‘I need more out of myself’: Leafs’ Dakota Joshua responds to healthy scratch

WASHINGTON, DC – There is no more sugarcoating.

The glass is half full of news: after the first and long-awaited healthy scratch of the strong forward, no one claims otherwise.

Head coach Craig Berube waited 22 games before benching the bottom-six draft pick GM Brad Treliving acquired from the Canucks this summer.

At first glance, the acquisition looked like a low-cost, low-risk purchase.

An 18-goal, 32-point, hard-checking, responsible forechecker? A fan favorite for any Vancouverite tuning in for the 2024 playoffs? For low, low price fourth round 2028?

However, six weeks into the player's proposed buyout campaign, the Maple Leafs plan to build a nightly shutdown line around Joshua and the center. Nicolas Roy still look shaky at best.

Joshua had just two goals and three assists for a minus-8 rating and went eight games without a point. He failed to even record a shot in five of them and dropped to fourth place.

While not harmful, Joshua's shifts were too quiet. Irrelevant. His physical presence is either exaggerated or he is about to be late to the party.

It's unlikely to be much of a return on investment at $3.25 million per year if the contract runs through 2027-28.

“We need more from you. And I agree with him. And I have no argument with that. I need more from myself, and so does the team,” Joshua told Sportsnet on Thursday after training on Thanksgiving Day in the US capital. “We have to become better.

“Everyone here is smart and understands how you play. So, I totally understand that this year hasn't gone very well for me. But there's still a lot of hockey left to turn it around, and that's what I plan to do.”

Joshua's individual story this season hasn't been much different from his team's, with more expected from the secondary attack, toughness and speed.

Joshua was appointed DNA converter. He was supposed to represent the Leafs' tougher identity.

The coaching staff is hopeful that he will adjust the winning lineup and have Joshua back in action on Friday against the Washington Capitals – that he will take this wake-up call to heart.

“I just felt like he needed to reset and sometimes that adds a little more fire to them too,” Berube said.

These decisions are not made lightly.

Typically, veterans and new faces are given extra leeway before being sent to the press box.

Healthy scratches this early in a long tenure can embarrass not only the player, but also the manager who brought him in.

But with the Leafs stuck on the sad side of the wild line, Berube needs the six-foot-three, 218-pound Joshua to find his identity.

“He's a big guy that has to be a big, strong player to play against. And he's going to put goals on the net, right? So I think it's about touching the puck a little more in the offensive zone with the forecheck and then getting to the net and winning battles there and turning pucks over,” Berube explained.

“He's got a good arm and vision, and he's capable of putting the puck in the net. That's where I see his game can improve. But it's about getting there. So, from our zone, anticipating and being direct. Not only him, but his linemates put him in a good spot for the forecheck or whatever.”

Be a hindrance to the opposition.

“Make it harder,” Berube challenged. “They don't want to box him. He's a big guy. So I think this way he can be more involved.”

Joshua, a self-confessed slow starter, agrees there is another level he can reach.

“Just doing my part to control the game better with my teammates,” he said. “Being more connected and taking on the responsibility of being the guy that blows plays away and just makes it difficult for the other team to play.”

Okay, so who's coming out?

William Nylander, who has missed three games this season due to injury, missed Thursday's practice for “maintenance.”

The overtime hero walked around the rink Wednesday and looked in good spirits as he chatted with teammates before meeting his old buddy Rasmus Sandin for dinner in Washington.

Berube says Nylander will be fine.

So, who will replace Joshua?

In practice, Domi and Maccelli (also scratched Wednesday) took turns skating in Nylander's spot next to John Tavares on the second line and in Toronto's new five-forward power play.

Both crafty playmakers have struggled as of late.

But Domi was never healthy as a Maple Leaf, despite his team-worst -13 rating.

“I don't know if it's the defensive side of things. I think positionally he was solid,” Berube said of Domi. “I know his plus/minus doesn’t say it, but I wouldn’t say positionally it gives me a lot of heads.

“Just get more involved in the game. Like, he needs to get dirty low in the offensive zone and win battles and get more involved that way. And get inside the ice more. That's what I see. And when he skates and moves, he's an effective player.”

“But it's too controversial.”

Disposable: Defenseman Brandon Carlo participated fully in practice for the first time since his injury on November 13… The stitches you noticed on Berube's forehead were due to a small, routine procedure the coach performed this week to remove something from underneath the skin. Nothing serious. “Just so you know, I did this without any freezing or anything,” Berube boasts…. The slow-starting Capitals have won five of their last six games… Berube on Dakota Mermis' first-period roughing penalty against Zach Aston-Resse, which he contested in real time: “I thought it was a terrible call. First of all, I know you can't rip a guy's helmet off. But it wasn't intentional. They went for it and (Mermis) has already been hit in the head twice. I understand. You want to tie the score. This fine. But then he pulls the guy down and his helmet comes off. I mean, it was just a tough call.”

Maple Leafs practice lines Thursday in Washington.

Nice-Matthews-Robertson
Domi/Macelli – Tavares – Cowan
Joshua – Roy – McMann
Lorenz–Laughton–Jarnkrok

Rielly – Ekman-Larsson
Benoit – McCabe
Mermis – engraver
Myers – Carlo