I just remembered the stretch where Joshua broke his hand and we looked so much softer and somewhat lifeless. He definitely raises the swagger of this team.
That's really the main reason they signed him.
A few weeks ago Tocchet came out and said the Canucks couldn't afford to lose both Zadorov and Joshua. Before that we'd heard Allvin talk of signing the next Dakota Joshua and pretty clearly considering the possibility that he might not be able to come to an agreement with either DJ or Zad.
The sandpaper aspect is also which gives Joshua the value he has. Generally speaking a 28 year old coming off a career year which is very, very much better than his second best season shouldn't get term and be paid on the basis of his one career year. Distinguishing features for Joshua, though, are:
-his toughness
-he's only been a professional for three seasons and has shown improvement from season to season
-having only been a professional for three seasons, his body doesn't have the wear and tear on it that would be the case if he had been playing, firstly a junior schedule as long as in the CHL and secondly the large number of games against North American pros that he would have if he'd turned pro at 20 the way most Canadian juniors do.
Obviously with Joshua, someone who Tocchet really lit a match under to get going, there is a risk in signing him to a four year term in that he could easily fail to produce what he just did in his best year by far. Despite that risk, in all the circumstances and with his toughness it would be pretty much unimaginable to let him go when you could get him at this price. Perhaps more important, in a very short time frame we've seen three players sign for what is less than what they'd expect if they waited a few days to get offers from elsewhere while a fourth player previously made it clear he'd take what he would consider a discount if it would allow him to stay. In a high cost high tax environment in which the coach is far from running a country club that has to be meaningful.