Penguins snag young goalie with promise for next to nothing

On Sunday afternoon the Pittsburgh Penguins announced a trade with the Vancouver Canucks, acquiring goalie Arturs Silovs for AHL winger Chase Stillman and a 2027 4th round draft pick.

With the Penguins trading away Alex Nedeljkovic earlier this offseason to the San Jose Sharks, the goalie room consisted of just Tristan Jarry and Joel Blomqvist. Silovs now adds an extra backstop to the fray.

A Vancouver Folk Hero

Arturs Silovs, 24, was a bit of a folk hero with the Canucks back in 2024. Due to injuries to Thatcher Demko and company, Silovs was thrust into the fire during Vancouver's First Round matchup against the Nashville Predators with only nine NHL games played in his career.

On the road in Game 4, Silovs stopped 27 of Nashville's 30 shots en route to a 4-3 overtime win. Then in Game 5 at home, the Latvian stopped 20 of 22 shots, but the Canucks fell 2-1.

In Game 6, Silovs only got one goal of support on the road, oftentimes a death wish in the playoffs. Until you realize that Silovs pitched a shutout that included a 4-minute powerplay in a hostile environment to send the Canucks to the Second Round.

Unfortunately, Silovs' magic fizzled out facing the Edmonton Oilers in the next round. The eventual Stanley Cup runner ups proved too much for the young goalie despite his flashes of grandeur. The Canucks fell in six games to the Oilers. Three times in the series he had a save percentage over .900.

Silovs' Profile

The young goalie is 6'4" and spent most of the 2024-25 season with the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL. Silovs was a catalyst to Abbotsford winning the Calder Cup this season with a .908 save percentage in 21 regular season games and a .931 save percentage going 16-7 in the playoffs.

He was named the Calder Cup MVP for his efforts in what ended up being the AHL Canucks' first Calder Cup Championship.

While the Penguins have Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov looming in the system, the addition of Silovs provides potential NHL-caliber goaltending coming off as good as a season you'll find in the AHL.

Adding Silovs' understanding of playoff hockey also bodes well for the future if the Penguins decide to sign him to a long-term deal. Right now Silovs is at the end of his contract, but Kyle Dubas acquiring him would suggest there are likely future plans.

As an NHLer, Silovs has a career .880 save percentage with an 8-8-2 record and a 3.13 GAA. Advanced metrics like Goals Saved Above Average might suggest Silovs has outpunted his coverage, having a -10.5 GSAA in his NHL career thus far.

He also doesn't average a high shot volume against. He's only seeing around 26 shots per game, but the league average shots per game rests between 28-32, a number that could hurt Silovs if he does face more shots.

Understand, though, that these are his numbers at the NHL level. His AHL stats indicate that he has talent, but the NHL is a different animal. He could have a syndrome similar to Joel Blomqvist, who started his NHL career strong but later caught a sense of reality.

It's realistic to project that Silovs will be the backup to Tristan Jarry to start the 2025-26 season.

If that does end up being the plan, it ends up a win-win for the Penguins. If Silovs is great and proves he has consistency and longevity, then the Penguins might have just found a quick fix to their goalie woes.

If he's bad, then there's no harm, as several Penguins fans are actively rooting for the team to be bad anyway (which is a ridiculous stance, by the way).

As for the return, the Penguins flip Chase Stillman, who they got in the Cody Glass trade. He hasn't been much of anything with Wilkes-Barre Scranton. In fact he's gotten worse since his time in the New Jersey system. Pair Stillman with a future 4th round pick and this looks like a steal by Kyle Dubas.