Canucks' Dakota Joshua Had Testicular Cancer Surgery, Will Miss Start of Camp

Vancouver Canucks center Dakota Joshua revealed he will not be ready for the start of training camp after being diagnosed with testicular cancer this offseason.

Joshua released a statement Tuesday that said he underwent surgery in which doctors successfully removed the tumor. He called the past several weeks "extremely challenging" and thanked his family, friends, teammates and doctors for their support.

"Unfortunately, I will not be ready for the start of training camp as I continue to heal from surgery," he said. "I plan on returning to play as soon as possible this season and I am working hard every day to re-join my teammates."

This comes after Joshua agreed to a four-year, $13 million deal with the Canucks in June.

"Dakota had a strong season for us and took some big steps forward in his game," general manager Patrik Allvin said in the team's announcement of the deal. "We really like his size, his speed and physicality. He fit in well with our system and the way we want to play hockey and I look forward to watching him continue to develop under our coaching staff."

Joshua played the first two seasons of his career from 2020 to 2022 for the St. Louis Blues before joining the Canucks ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

He had a career-best season in 2023-24 and finished with 32 points on 18 goals and 14 assists in 63 games. He also posted a plus-minus total of plus-19 and helped lead Vancouver to a Pacific Division title and the second round of the playoffs.

Joshua finished with four goals and four assists in 13 playoff games for the Canucks.

Vancouver will play its first preseason of the upcoming campaign on Sept. 24 against the Seattle Kraken. Its first regular-season game is on Oct. 9 against the Calgary Flames.