Dakota Joshua Trade Likely Ends Maple Leafs' Pursuit of Key Free Agent Target
Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
With the Maple Leafs acquiring Dakota Joshua in order to shore up their bottom-six, that may be the end of Toronto's pursuit of forward Jack Roslovic who remains unsigned.
The acquisition of Dakota Joshua from Vancouver could be seen as a solid pickup given his ability to play physical, add some offense, add some defense and bring the passion fans will love.
No, it's not a mega-deal some wanted, but given a full season healthy and a motivated mindset, he could surprise some.
His name was thrown around only days before as a potential trade candidate, and the Maple Leafs clearly didn't want to wait around to make a deal happen, but in their haste, did they end up sealing the deal?
By that, has the team decided to give up on adding any more pieces; more specifically Jack Roslovic.
Did Toronto wave the white flag on Jack Roslovic?
We've heard several rumors linking the still-unsigned forward to the Maple Leafs given their need for a top-six forward, and his history with Auston Matthews could bring a lot of offensive potential.
But the club still needs to get rid of both Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf (if they even can) and are going to run out of cap space if they can't get that done, though Jarnkrok is open to the idea.
Roslovic won't be expensive, but he might command something like Jeff Skinner got; one-year at $3M+.
Toronto running out of room to add Roslovic anyways
Adding Joshua, who comes at a $3.25-million cap hit, means that the team has so much less to work with than a week ago, and though Roslovic's still being patient; there's only so much time.
Let's take a look at a potential lineup with the new additions:
Knies - Matthews - Macelli
Domi - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Roy - Robertson
Joshua - Laughton - Lorentz
You've still got Jarnkrok and Kampf to worry about, plus new addition Michael Pezzetta, not to mention Easton Cowan fighting for a roster spot come October.
It's going to be hard to fit Roslovic in the lineup unless Toronto ships out a few names, and with zero indication of that happening yet; it might be a lost cause to sign him.
While there's no doubt adding a perennial 20-goal scorer to the top-six is a great way to boost the offense, the team may have other plans in mind for the future and unfortunately Roslovic won't fit.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 18 | 1449 ANSWERS Dakota Joshua Trade Likely Ends Maple Leafs' Pursuit of Key Free Agent Target Should Toronto still go after Jack Roslovic? | ||
| Yes | 802 | 55.3 % |
| No | 647 | 44.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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