Dakota Joshua honours former Maple Leaf great with jersey number

Minnesota Wild v Vancouver Canucks | Derek Cain/GettyImagesThe newest member of the Maple Leafs is keeping his old jersey number from Vancouver, but it means so much more in Toronto.

Dakota Joshua told the media this week, in his first substantial meeting since being traded to the Maple Leafs from the Canucks, that he will be keeping his No. 81 jersey that he had in Vancouver. The only thing is that that number belonged to former Leaf, Phil Kessel.

The 29-year-old recognized that the No. 81 has such a recent legacy in Toronto, but expressed that he has his own connection to the top-end winger. Joshua, like Kessel, is a testicular cancer survivor. He had to miss Canucks training camp and the…